


Killer Idol

by MacLovesLizards



Category: Killer Idol, Original Work
Genre: 1980s, High School, M/M, Murder, Original Character(s), read notes at the beginning of chapters for content warnings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-09-21 12:45:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 73,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9549764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MacLovesLizards/pseuds/MacLovesLizards
Summary: Johnny Carmichael is an 18 year old high school student in the 1980's. He is a diligent student and works hard to keep his grades up. However, his focus on grades has led to him having little to no social life, and he has become a shy, asocial loner with no close friends. It isn't until one day, when a boy named Emette Manning, who Johnny idolizes and looks up to, begins talking to him, that he actually begins to come out of his shell. The two seem to hit it off. However, one day Johnny accidentally stumbles upon Emette's darkest secret. He soon discovers that his idol is actually a serial killer, who murders those who have committed heinous, sexually based or abuse related crimes, as well as any witnesses. Emette agrees to spare Johnny on one condition: he must keep quiet and join him during his killings.





	1. Hey, Idol!

**Author's Note:**

> If you think this story is solely based around murder, it's not. It's actually not THAT angsty (a good bit of the time). Believe me, I'm too gay to make this entire thing all angst no gay(ngst). Also, it's gonna take some time to get to the murder part, so be patient. There's a LOT of exposition necessary for this story. This story will EVENTUALLY be turned into a webcomic, I've decided. I just need to up my artistic skill and then it'll happen (hopefully).  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> P.S. Johnny's character is based a lot off of me and my life. Just a fun fact for ya.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Since this is chapter one, obviously it won't have everything listed in the main summary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings:  
> CSA mention, q-slur

The morning bell rings out for all in Willow Water High School to hear. Johnny’s frantic footsteps echo through the hall as he zips past other students; the papers in his hand flap in the wind that his fantastic speed was creating. Although the boy took the school’s rules very seriously, he took his attendance even more so. Therefore, he decides to ignore the, “no running in the halls,” rule for now. He knew his first period teacher was always a few minutes late as well, so his goal was to beat him there to avoid being counted late. Not once that year had he been late to class, and he had no intention on making this his first late day. The other tardy students had already accepted their fate, and decide to simply walk to class. They roll their eyes at the blond jock speeding down the hallway. Those who knew him say to each other in hushed voices that he takes school too seriously. They say he’s obsessed with being the ideal student for every teacher. Which he was. All the teachers bragged to his parents about how gifted and pleasant he was. He had been offered many scholarships, and was planning for the bright future he had ahead of him. He was known to get extremely anxious if he failed a test. “I can’t believe someone like that is on our football team,” the kids in the hallway whisper. The wind whirring in Johnny’s ears prevents him from hearing anything, however. His immense speed begins to slow as he reaches his classroom. Despite his athleticism, he was rather warn out by the whole ordeal. In the end, it turns out to be all for nothing, as the teacher had been in the classroom since the bell had first rung. Johnny clenches his fists as he catches his breath. He knew he’d be broken up about this for the rest of the day. Just then, a hand grabs his shoulder.

“Thanks for showing the new guy where the library was for me, Kid. I was really busy. I’m sorry I made you late.” Johnny looks to his left at the deep voice that had just spoken to him. His eyes light up as he recognizes his idol, who was smiling down at him with his usual calm and collected expression.

“Emette, are you saying that you know where Johnathon was?” The teacher asks.

“Yes sir. Earlier this morning I was trying to help out the new kid, but I needed to catch Mrs. Peterson before she left the front office. Johnny came by and graciously offered to show him where the library was so that I could ask Mrs. Peterson about my lost wallet before she left the office. If I had known he was going to be late, I would have skipped the trip to the office and helped the kid out.” Emette explains. Johnny awkwardly stares at the ground as Emette fabricates a story. He didn’t want to play along with the lie, but he really needed to be excused from this tardy. He didn’t want it going on his permanent record. Besides, Emette was doing all this for him. He’d feel bad if he made this all for nothing. The teacher scratches his chin for a moment while looking at Johnny. He knew Johnny would never lie to him.

“Is what Emette is saying true, Johnathon?” Johnny looks up at Emette, who still has the same expression on his face, however, this time it seemed more like it was encouraging him to play along. Johnny swallows the lump in his throat and smiles at the teacher.

“Yes sir!” He chimes.

“Alright. I’ll excuse you this once. Both of you take a seat. Emette, hand me your pass.” The teacher says, motioning the two boys in. Although he felt bad for lying, Johnny figured most of it was on Emette. Besides, his idol, the one person he wanted to be friendly with him, had just been friendly with him, and now nothing else could ruin his day.

 

When lunchtime rolls around, Johnny stands at the double doors that lead out to the track field with his lunchbox in hand. He stares out the windows to the rows of seats that oversaw the field. Emette and a couple of the others guys from the football team sat there for lunch every day. Johnny was friendly with all his fellow teammates. However, he was still hopelessly introverted. He had a very hard time coming out of his shell. Even if he had known most of them since junior high, at the longest. Emette, on the other hand, he had only known since eleventh grade, since Emette had moved to his town only just a little more than a year ago. He was never that close with Emette back then, but this year he planned to change that. He idolized Emette more than anyone in his life. He saw something in him that his life was missing. He wanted to be friends with him, even if it would just be for one more year. It was only the beginning of the school year, after all. Today he was determined to sit with him and their teammates. He pushes the door on the right side open slowly, and steps out of the school building. His footsteps lag more than he wants them to. Fear was weighing him down and he considers just going back altogether. His heart pounds in his chest and the dread of rejection pulls at his mind and urges him to turn around. He gets close enough to hear Emette’s low voice and the other guys cracking up. Each loud, bellowing laugh that comes from the two larger teammates makes Johnny jump. He listens to how much they were enjoying themselves. He wanted to be a part of the fun so badly, but at the same time, he felt he would be too out of place with his quiet nature. Deterred, Johnny hangs his head and turns around. He was so close that time. He had never once walked out onto the field. “Hey, isn’t that Johnny?” One of the larger boys mentions. Johnny freezes in place and begins to feel himself break into a cold sweat.

“Hey, Johnny!” The other large boy shouts. Johnny reluctantly turns to wave at them, then continues on his way. The boys up in the stands start to whisper amongst themselves. Johnny can hear them, but cannot make out what they’re saying.

“What’s with that guy? Does he even sit with anyone?”

“No kidding. He’s probably a loner.” The two bigger guys say to each other. Emette watches while Johnny walks away.

“Hey, Kid! Come sit with us!” He calls out. Johnny’s heart nearly stops. Never in a million years did he expect Emette to call out to him. He always thought Emette was too cool for him. He takes a minute to repress his giant, cheesy grin, then turns back around to head back towards the stands. He makes his way up to the eighth row where the boys were, and smiles before sitting down. He silently unpacks his lunch while the others continue their previous conversation before he had arrived.

“So, Johnny,” One of the bigger boys begins. Johnny looks at him with a mouth full of food, “How come you don’t sit with us every day?” Johnny desperately begins thinking of a way to reply without seeming too desperate. He swallows his food before speaking.

“Well, I…” he mutters in a small voice, “…I didn’t know I was welcome over here.” The two larger boys and Emette look at each other. One of the boys, the blonde one, snorts.

“Of course you’re welcome over here! What? You think we’re gonna kick you out or something?”

“Well, I just…I never know, heh…” Johnny gives a nervous chuckle. The boys once again look amongst each other and the smallest of the two boys burst into laughter. Johnny curls into himself a bit in embarrassment.

“Come on, guys. Quit baggin’ on ‘im,” Emette says, “kid probably just has a hard time makin’ friends.”

 _“Isn’t that a little obvious?”_ Johnny thinks to himself. Nonetheless, he’s grateful for Emette’s having defended him. He eases up a little, knowing that Emette was on his side.

After lunch, Johnny and Emette begin to part ways, Johnny having found a new sense of confidence after talking with him. Johnny waves goodbye. “See ya around, Emette!” He chimes, voice still rather shaky and showing signs of nervousness. Emette waves back in response.

“Later, Johnny!” As soon as Emette and the other boys leave, Johnny grins widely.

 _“One step closer!”_ He thinks, as he begins to buoyantly walk to class with his head high in the air. He almost felt like skipping. All the other students who knew him watch with puzzled expressions. They were so used to seeing him with his head down, looking at papers to study for upcoming quizzes and tests in an anxious manner, or nervously trying to avoid touching people in the hallways. Even the teacher seemed to notice a change in his demeanor. She walks over to his desk and touches him on the shoulder.

“Hey, Johnathon. You’re awfully smiley today! Did something good happen?” She asks. Johnny nods and begins telling her in a voice that almost sounds like an excited child telling their parents about something.

“I finally talked to somebody I’ve been wanting to talk to ever since last year!” The teacher smiles as if she knows what he means.

“Oh, I see. Do you have a date tonight or something?” Johnny looks at her with wide eyes and blushes.

“No! No! It’s not anything like that, Ms. Wilkes! He’s just a friend, eheh…” Johnny frantically brushes it off, trying not to give her the wrong idea. Ms. Wilkes nods, realizing her mistake and deciding it was never safe to assume things.

“Oh, I see. I thought you were talking about a girl!” She laughs it off and leaves Johnny at his desk with weird images in his head. Images that he tries not to dwell on for too long. Despite this, the rest of class goes off without a hitch. Johnny was much less stressed when taking notes. He leisurely wrote instead of frantically scribbling like he did every other day. He thought that maybe, if he kept this up, he would soon be completely stress free and feel like he could function normally again while still performing well in school. He was even prepared when the bell rang, unlike most days when he had to rush to pack up and move on to the next class. He leaves the classroom and makes his way down the hallway to his locker. He turns the lock until his combination was in and clicks it open. As he exchanges his books, he begins to think of other ways he could get closer to Emette besides just talking at lunch or whenever he saw him in school. Football crosses his mind and he begins to hatch a perfect idea.

 

When the bell rings that signaled the end of the school day, Johnny looks around the crowded halls for Emette. He knew Emette drove home, so he figured he’d be walking out to the parking lot. Johnny thanks God that he walked home and didn’t have to worry about missing a bus. He exits the building and glances around. After a while of looking, Johnny decides he had already missed him, and begins to make his way back inside, not looking where he was going. The sudden force of another body bumping into his stops him in his tracks. He looks up and recognizes the black pompadour and brown skin of Emette. He smiles at the other. “You alright, Kid?” Emette asks. Johnny nods, probably looking a lot more, “alright,” than he had intended. Emette quirks a brow at the boy’s obvious joy at seeing him again.

“Yeah! I’m fine! I was just, uh…wondering…” Johnny starts to trail off a bit, beginning to feel a sudden urge of discouragement. He freezes, unsure about if he should continue or not. He didn’t want to be rejected.

“Wondering…?” Emette says, now fully weirded out.

“Oh!” Johnny snaps back into attention, finally deciding to just come out and say it. “I was wondering if you could help me practice a little bit? Like, maybe tonight, or something?” Emette hums in thought for a moment

“Hmm…can’t tonight. But I don’t think I’m busy tomorrow night.” Emette replies. Johnny’s smile grows even wider, despite him trying to suppress it.

“So, we’re good for tomorrow night?” Johnny asks, heart beating fast.

“Sure. Unless something changes, but I’ll phone you if it does. Here, let me give you my number.” Emette sets his backpack down and digs around a bit before retrieving a pen and a notecard. The notecard had some nonsense scribbled on it in red ink, but Emette didn’t care. He bites the cap off of the pen and begins scratching down his number. Johnny waits almost impatiently, though it doesn’t take Emette more than four or five seconds to finish writing and hand him the notecard. Johnny happily accepts it.

“When should I call you?” He asks Emette, who hums in thought once again.

“Hmm…phone me around four forty-five and if no one picks up, call back at five. I’ll tell my folks to expect you so if I can’t get to the phone before them, they’ll know whose calling.”

“Alright! Thanks!” Johnny chirps. Emette ruffles his hair playfully before resuming his walk back to his car. Johnny can’t help but feel ecstatic. Today had to be the best day he’s ever had. The trek home seemed much shorter than normal to him. Most likely due to the fact that he was nearly sprinting the entire way there. When he bursts through the door, his mom jumps, having been startled by the sudden noise.

“Johnathon, you scared me half to death! I thought someone was trying to rob the house!” She scolds.

“Sorry, mom. I’m just excited!”

“Why’s that?”

“Cause I got my friend’s number!”

“Ooh, is it a special lady friend?” His mom leans in closer.

“No, mom. Trust me, if it were a lady friend, you’d be the last person I’d tell.” Johnny’s mom scoffs.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Before Johnny can answer, a taller man with a short beard and brownish red hair walks in.

“Hey, Johnny!” He says in a friendly voice. Johnny’s excitement seems to falter slightly upon seeing him.

“Oh. Hey, Clyde. You’re home early.” He speaks in a lower tone than before. Clyde seemed to be less than pleased with the response. Nonetheless, his voice remains positive.

“So, how was school?”

“It was good.” Johnny answers simply, moving past him to walk upstairs to his room. Clyde and Johnny’s mom watch him, both unsure of what to say. Neither of them are surprised by his actions, and Clyde chooses to sit down at the table with Johnny’s mom. He sighs while she pats his arm.

“I don’t know what to do, Martha. It’s been four years and hardly anything has changed with him.”

“I know. I think he’s just having a hard time coming out of his shell, still. He hardly has any friends at school, you know.” Martha reassures him with a gentle smile.

“Yeah, I know. I just wish he would understand that I’m not trying to take anyone’s place. I know I’ll never be able to replace his father, and I’m not trying to.” Johnny listens in on their conversation for a while before angrily plopping down on his bed. He didn’t care if Clyde wasn’t trying to replace his father. The fact is that he did. Johnny unzips his backpack and retrieves his anatomy book. He had a test coming up and he didn’t have time to waste fuming over Clyde. He opens the book and begins looking over the various parts of the human organ system. Anatomy didn’t really seem like the best class for him to be in, he thought. He was really squeamish and preferred not to look at guts and gore, even if it was in a science book. Despite this, he studied long into the night until his brain was too tired to retain information. He looks up at the clock on the wall, which read, “8:48.” He yawns and decides to call it a night, shutting his book and setting his alarm for, “6am.” He then turns off his lamp and snuggles under the covers.

 

(CSA mention in this paragraph)

The blaring ringing of his alarm clock snaps Johnny awake. He lazily sits up and fumbles to shut it off, before flinging off his covers and shuffling out of his room. He can already hear his sisters shouting over the remote. He was used to it by now, and had learned how to tune them out. Just then, he remembers that he would be getting to hang out with Emette today, and his lethargy is immediately cured. He rushes down the stairs and into the living room. His mom was trying to break up his three little sisters and come up with a compromise between them. They all argued over what they would watch in the morning before the school bus came to pick them up. Janette, the youngest, always wanted to watch cartoons. Sally, the second oldest, wanted to watch the nature channel. And Margaret, the oldest of the three, wanted to watch MTV. Johnny thought it funny that despite their mom telling them to take turns each day, none of them ever listened. Finally, as Johnny sat down at the table to eat, their mom gained control of the remote and began scolding all of them. “What did I tell you all about sharing the remote?”

“But mommy, it was my turn and Margaret took the remote before I did!” Janette complains.

“Ya snooze, ya lose, noid!” Margaret teases. Janette sticks her tongue out at her, to which Margaret retorts in the same way.

“They’re both wrong! It was my turn!” Sally argues.

“Was not!” Margaret shouts.

“Was to!” The three girls begin trying to grab at the remote. Martha lets out an exhausted sigh. Johnny finishes the last of his orange juice and wanders over.

“I’ll tell you what,” Johnny begins, taking the remote from his mother’s hands, “how about _I_ decide what we watch today, and then tomorrow, one of you can choose? Does that sound fair?” All the girls look at each other and seem to come to a silent agreement.

“Okay!” All of them say. Johnny nods and switches the TV over to the news channel. The female reporter was standing in front of what looked to be a crime scene.

“The police have just uncovered a gruesome crime scene, as the body of Edward Grey, a suspected child molester, was found bloody and beaten on his living room floor. It was quite a disturbing scene, not only because of the body’s condition, but also because of the framed portraits of various young children that hung in every room of his house. To everyone’s knowledge, Edward had never been married, nor had any kids. The children in the photos are assumed to be around the ages of four and thirteen.” The reporter continues to go into detail about the heinous crime while the little girls cowered.

“Johnathon, turn that off!” Martha scolds. Johnny quickly switches the channel to cartoons. Janette excitedly bounces over the TV with a big smile on her face. Martha gives Johnny an angered look.

“Sorry, mom. It just caught my attention.” Johnny apologizes. Martha sighs and crosses her arms.

“I just don’t want the girls to be scared of a serial killer in town.” She says. Johnny nods, suggesting he understood what she meant.

“I know.” The two then hear the screech and huff of a school bus.

“Alright girls, grab your backpacks and get going.” Their mom commands. The three girls reluctantly throw their backpacks on and rush out of the door.

“Guess that means I’m off, too.” Johnny says with a smile. His mom smiles back and gives him a kiss in the cheek, much to his annoyance. It was rather embarrassing being eighteen and still getting kisses from your mom. He endures it nonetheless and grabs his backpack and other school supplies, bolting out the door with vigor in his steps. On his way to school, a passing car slows down to his pace. Johnny slows as well and looks in the window of the vehicle. The two of his teammates from yesterday, Tyrese and Ulysses, look out at him. Tyrese rolls down the window.

“Hey, Johnny! Need a lift?” Tyrese shouts.

“No thanks! I’m good!” Johnny replies.

“You sure? You seem like you’re in a rush.”

“I’m sure! Thanks, guys!” With that, Tyrese and Ulysses wave goodbye to him and once again speed up. Johnny’s steps only gain more verve after the encounter. He actually talked to his teammates without sounding awkward. He joyously bounds into the school building. He was a little bit early, but decided that was okay. He walks to his first period classroom, but doesn’t enter. Instead, he waits. Whenever a student would enter the classroom, Johnny would greet them with cheerfulness in his voice. The students would awkwardly greet him back and enter the classroom wondering what had just happened.

“You the official greeter today, Kid?” Johnny once again hears the familiar baritone voice and turns his head to face the other.

“Good morning, Emette!” He chirps. Emette looks upon his vigor with amusement and ruffles his hair. Johnny delightfully chuckles at the action, which further amuses the other. “We still good for tonight?” Johnny asks hopefully. Emette nods.

“Yep. I don’t have any other plans that I know of tonight. By the way, I forgot to get your number. You think you can write it down for me real quick?”

“Oh! Yeah! Hold on, I think I have a blank sheet of paper in the front pouch of my backpack.” Johnny answers, setting down his book bag and unzipping the front part. He rummages around until he pulls out a piece of clean notebook paper. He then retrieves a pen from the side pocket and writes down his number, handing it to Emette without a moment’s hesitation.

“Thanks. Also, I decided instead of you calling me, we could just meet at the parking lot and I’ll drive you over to my place. That sound like a plan?” Emette asks. Johnny nods, looking perhaps a little too eager. Emette once again ruffles Johnny’s hair before entering the classroom. Johnny follows, fixing his hair as he goes.

 

(Q-slur in this paragraph)

The day couldn’t have gone by slower. Emette was on Johnny’s mind the entire day. He had no idea why he sought the other’s approval so much. It was almost starting to scare him how much he wanted to be around him. He questioned his own motives and wondered what could have triggered such an intense reaction from him. Either way, he was pleased that he would get to hang out with Emette soon. He looks up at the clock on the wall. Class was almost over. The last class of the day. He clutches his pencil and watches the seconds tick by. Sweat collects on his forehead and he braces himself to get up and leave. The teacher looks at him funny.

“Johnathon, are you-…” Before the teacher can finish, the bell rings and Johnny swiftly swings his book bag over his shoulders and bolts for the door. “Johnathon!” The teacher calls out in concern.

“I’m okay, Mr. Wright!” Johnny answers as he leaves. He was slowed a little in the hallway and restlessly shuffles along, trying to get past the kids who were taking their sweet time. When he finally breaks free, he rushes to the double doors leading out to the parking lot and waits. He waits for a good five or so minutes before he sees Emette leisurely walking in his direction. Johnny waves at him and Emette does the same, however in a much cooler manner. Once Emette reaches him, Johnny gives him a big smile, which made the other feel rather surprised, seeing someone he hardly knew this excited to see him. Nonetheless, it amuses him. He likened Johnny to a golden retriever in a way. Always happy and excited when someone he likes comes his way, and loves to be pet (or have his hair ruffled in Johnny’s case). He almost expected Johnny to one day grow a tail and start wagging it whenever he saw him.

 _“He’s a unique one.”_ Emette thinks to himself, before patting Johnny’s shoulder. “You ready, Kid?” He asks, expecting no answer other than the one he receives.

“Hell yeah!” Johnny exclaims, perhaps a little too loud. Emette grins and walks past him; Johnny follows like an obedient puppy out to the parking lot and to Emette’s car. He looks upon it in awe. “You have a convertible?”

“Yep!” Emette replies proudly. Johnny fawns over the car for a moment before looking up at Emette, who motions him to get in. Johnny enthusiastically hops in and Emette follows. Emette turns the key and revs up the engine just to show off. Johnny couldn’t be enjoying himself more. Finally, Emette swerves out of the parking lot and onto the main road. It was surprisingly clear considering school had just gotten out. Johnny feels the cool wind caressing his face and hair. He feels like a dog sticking its head out the window. He almost wanted to stick his tongue out as a joke, but wasn’t sure Emette would get it. Emette smoothly drives the vehicle, leaning back on the seat with only one hand on the wheel. Johnny was too immersed in the crisp smell of the fall air mixed with the sweet scent of gasoline that was filling his lungs to worry about the other’s careless driving habits. He would be rather disappointed when they parked in Emette’s garage, if it weren’t for how stunning the house looked. It was painted a clean white color, with baby blue shutters. The garage was also very neat and tidy; with various tools hanging from the walls and neatly arranged on a wooden table. The house was a very decent size as well. It was obvious that they were very upper middle class. There were three cars in the garage, counting Emette’s. One of the cars looked as though it had been taken apart in some ways. Johnny looks at Emette and asks,

“What’s with that car?”

“Oh. My old man’s working on it. He’s working on building it into a muscle car. He likes to dream about winning a drag race. I’m not sure why, but more power to ‘im.” Emette replies, jingling the keys in his hand before unlocking the door. When they step inside, they are immediately met with the scent of freshly baked bread. “Hm. Guess Ma started dinner early.” Emette looks up at the clock in the living room. “Real early. It’s only four thirteen.” Johnny looks around the nicely furnished living room. Everything was colored in light pastels with blankets draped over the couches and loveseat. The throw pillows had cutesy patterns on them and they had a beautiful circular rug that sat underneath a glass coffee table. Johnny was impressed by the sheer creativity of it all. Emette suddenly throws his arm around Johnny’s shoulders, which makes him jump. “Let me introduce you to my family, Kid.” He says, guiding him into the kitchen where a short, chubby woman with curly brown hair and brown skin was pulling a pan of bread out of the oven. “This is mi madre!” Emette says. Johnny gives her a shy, but friendly smile and waves.

“Hello, Mrs. Manning! My name is Johnathon Carmichael, nice to meet you!” He greets. Mrs. Manning grins at him and gives his hand a few good shakes, nearly sending Johnny to the floor with how strong they were.

“Pleasure to meet you, Johnathon!” She had a soft, Hispanic accent that made Johnny wonder why Emette didn't have any kind of accent at all. Just then, a tall, toned man with a thick mustache walks in. Unlike Emette's mother, he was Caucasian. Emette turns Johnny around.

“And this is my dad.” Mr. Manning glances at Johnny, who gives him an intimidated wave before he walks off. “He’s not that friendly around strangers, but he’ll warm up to ya!” Emette assures, before leading him upstairs. They come to a door with stickers plastered on it. Mostly of flowers and the names of pop groups. Emette puts a finger up to his lips and quietly shushes Johnny. He slowly puts his hand on the doorknob before quickly turning it and bursting into the room.

“Hey Sarah! What’s up?!” He shouts. The girl on the bed screams and drops the phone she was talking on. She shoots Emette a furious glare before picking her phone back up.

“Hold on, Katherine, I’ll call you back.” She says before storming over to Emette and shoving him. “That wasn’t funny, Emette!” Emette only laughs as she continues to hit and shove him. Johnny chuckles at the scene, but backs up a bit as the enraged girl gets violent. Once she calms down, she looks to the smaller boy and then at Emette. “And who is this noid?”

“Sarah, this is Johnny. Johnny, this is my little sister, Sarah.” Johnny waves at her, and she rolls her eyes and waves back. She was rather tall for a teenage girl. Maybe only a few inches shorter than Emette. Taller than Johnny. Which wasn’t that big of a surprise. Johnny wasn’t exactly the tallest kid in the world. Maybe only about 5’5. Neither was Emette. He was probably only about 5’9. Sarah looked to be about 5’7 and had short, straight brown hair that was cut in a bob, and was wearing pink lipstick and nail polish.

“What is he doin’ here?” She asks. She sounded like she had been raised in the city her entire life.

“Just visitin’.” Emette replies, once again throwing his arm around Johnny’s shoulders in a friendly manner. Johnny was surprised, he didn’t expect Emette to act this friendly around him after they just started to get to know each other. Although, he was pleased. More than pleased. He was downright ecstatic that he and Emette were hitting it off this well this quickly. The friendly gesture brings out a bright smile onto Johnny’s face. Sarah quirks a brow at the two boys.

“Why don’t you two be queer somewhere else?” Sarah growls, before walking back into her room and shutting the door forcefully.

“Will do!” Emette jokes, before patting Johnny’s back a few times. “Come on, Kid. I’ll show ya my room.” Johnny nods and follows him back down the stairs and to the room parallel the living room on the other side of the staircase. It was just as big as the living room, but had pool and foosball tables as well as a big dart board. Johnny was amazed. The setup in this room was much different than the living room. Instead of pastels, this room was decorated in deep mahogany and wooden colors. “This is my old man’s space. He got to design this room while my mom designed the living room.” Emette says, before motioning him to follow further. Johnny follows him to a door underneath the staircase. Emette opens the door to reveal another staircase.

“You live in the basement?” Johnny asks in confusion.

“Pretty much! I have all this space to myself. The living area, the bathroom, my room, and the room across from it. I kinda got my own little house down here.” Emette answers, as they make it all the way down. Johnny’s jaw drops when he sees the area. There was one big couch in front of a TV with a game system plugged in.

“No way! You have an Atari?” Johnny exclaims in amazement.

“Yep! Haven’t played it in a while, though. It was a birthday present from my aunt, and I don’t think she knew that I play sports more often than I do video games.” Emette wipes the dust off the system with his hand. Johnny marvels at the various posters Emette had of famous football and baseball players hanging from the wall, as well a shelf of trophies and framed pictures. Just then, Johnny feels something brush up against his leg. He looks down to see a plump black cat rubbing its face on his leg. It lets out a deep meow and begins to purr. Emette walks over and picks the creature up, holding it in his arms like a baby. “This is Bubba. We found him eating ham out of our garbage after Thanksgiving. My parents told me not to feed him, but I didn’t listen. After a while of him not leaving, we just decided to give him a home.” Johnny chuckles and pets Bubba on the head, which warrants louder purrs from the cat.

“He’s really soft.” Johnny remarks absentmindedly.

“Yeah, he’s a real primp. Always cleanin’ himself whenever he gets the chance. Plus, I’m pretty sure Sarah uses her spare comb to brush him every now and again.” Emette says. Johnny continues to scratch the cat behind the ears before he suddenly bites him. Johnny yelps and quickly recoils. “Ah, yeah. I forgot. He doesn’t like being scratched behind his left ear for too long. Sorry, I forgot to mention that.” Emette apologizes and sets Bubba down.

“It’s okay, heh. I’ve been bitten by animals before.” Johnny brushes it off and looks at the damage. Emette takes Johnny’s hand and looks it over. All that was noticeable was a little red bite mark.

“Yeah, you’ll be fine.” He says, before walking away and motioning the other to come with. Johnny follows as he has been for the past couple hours. He didn’t seem to mind just following Emette around his house, even if others may not find it that exciting, he certainly did. “And this is my room.” Emette opens the door and flicks on the light. Johnny stares into the room with wide and impressed eyes. Flags of different football teams and posters lined the walls. On Emette’s shelves sat various model cars that he had most likely put together himself. He had a record player sitting on his dresser with a pile of records next to it. He had what looked to be an autographed football sitting on a stand next to the records, as well. Three trophies sat atop the highest shelf and the middle shelf was stacked with books and VHS’s. His bed was a queen sized mattress and had white sheets with one big, black comforter. The walls of his room were fern green with mint colored curtains for his window.

“Wow.” Johnny makes and impressed sound and Emette grins.

“Pretty cool, huh?”

“Yeah!” Johnny excitedly glances around. The room smelled faintly of cigarettes, which was beginning to make his head hurt, however. Once he’s had his fill of looking, he turns back to Emette.

“You ready to go out and toss the ball around a few times? Or was there something in particular you needed practice with?” Emette asks. Johnny hums in thought.

“I guess I do need to work on my passing.”

“Alright. Let’s get going, then.” Emette pats Johnny on the shoulder and they both walk out into the yard to practice.

 

The sky was beginning to darken and Emette could see that Johnny was getting worn out. Emette tosses the football on the back porch and pats Johnny’s shoulder. “You ready to call it a night, Kid?” He asks. Johnny nods, trying to catch his breath. Emette leads Johnny back to his car and they both hop in. Emette starts up the engine and leans closer to Johnny. “Where d’ya live, Kid?” he asks.

“My neighborhood is Oak Flats and my address is, ‘163 Harrison Court.’” Johnny replies. His tone was more lethargic than before. He had planned on getting some studying in when he got home, but it seemed that would have to wait for in the hallway tomorrow morning. Emette nods and pulls out of his garage and onto the street. The soothing feeling of wind in his hair makes Johnny sigh in relaxation. He almost feels as though he were falling asleep, but would occasionally jolt back into awareness whenever they hit a bump in the road. Emette notices Johnny nodding off and turns on the radio. He always listened to more upbeat rock music and figured that would keep him up. It seems to work, as Johnny snaps back into attention and sits up straight. He didn’t mind Emette turning on the radio. It was interesting getting to hear what kind of music his idol listened to.

“So…what type of music do you like?”

“I like a little bit of everything.” Emette answers. It was something Johnny was delighted to hear.

“Really? Me too!” Johnny chimes. Emette chuckles at his enthusiasm.

“Yeah. I don’t see how some people just listen to one genre for their entire lives. That’s how my old man is. All he listens to is classic rock. Nothing else. I think it’s boring to live like that.”

“Ugh. I know. All my mom listens to is classic rock or pop. She won’t let me listen to what I like when I’m in the car with her.”

“That’s why I don’t like being in the car with the rest of my family. My mom’s usually cool about it, but my dad completely dominates the radio unless my sister whines enough for him to change it to a pop station. She thinks classic rock is for old people, and my dad thinks pop is for stupid, uncultured youngsters.”

“Wow. Did he really say that?”

“Nah. But he’s thinkin’ it.” Emette says, as he pulls into Johnny’s neighborhood. Johnny’s facial expression changes to one of disappointment as they enter his street. Emette notices and pats Johnny’s shoulder. “We’ll hang out again. Don’t worry, Kid. Today was fun.” Emette assures. Johnny’s face lights up.

“Yeah! I had fun, too!” He cheers. Emette pulls into his driveway, and Johnny hops out. He walks up to his doorstep and waves goodbye as Emette backs out. Emette waves back and drives off. Johnny can’t help but feel happy as he enters his house. His mom notices the smile on his face and grins.

“So. I’m assuming you had fun?” She says. Johnny nods.

“Yeah! I had a lot of fun! Emette’s really cool!” He chimes. Martha chuckles at her son’s cheerful attitude. She felt glad that he was finally making some friends.

 _“It only took him eighteen years.”_ She thinks to herself.

 

Once Johnny had quickly eaten dinner, he looks up to the clock on the wall, which read, “8:34.” He still had time to study a little bit before he went to bed. He washes his plate and rushes up to his room. Once there, he unzips his backpack and retrieves his math book. He skims through it and writes down equations and such; solving each of them with ease. Most people with this type of skill would think they had it in the bag by now. However, Johnny was thorough. He wanted to make absolutely certain that he knew how to do everything in this book. By the time an hour had passed, Johnny had solved nearly forty math problems. Each one of them was correct. Johnny looks up at the clock. “9:51.” He quickly shuts the math book and shoves it back into his book bag. With a sigh, he sets his alarm for his usual time and slips under the covers. Once he shuts his light off, he has no trouble falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I will eventually write more chapters. It's gonna take a while, though, since I have more important shit to do most of the time. Plus, I usually bounce from drawing moods to writing moods, so that's another issue. Anyway, thanks again for reading, and I hope you'll stick around for more!


	2. Fear and Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's that kinda gay shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings:  
> r-slur, f-slur.
> 
> If you don't have a panic disorder (or one as bad as mine), you might think I'm exaggerating at certain points, but trust me, I'm not. I've been through what Johnny's going through, that's why I wrote it, lol. On another note, I really want Emette to be real so that he can help my mentally ill ass out when I need support.

When morning creeps its way over the horizon and his alarm clock sounds, Johnny groggily shuts it off and flips over the covers. He shuffles downstairs and into the living room, where he sees his sisters fighting over the remote again. He lets out a tired sigh as he sits down for breakfast. Pancakes. He loves pancakes, so this actually pleases him and serves to lighten his foul morning mood. He watches as his mother tries to settle their argument once again. Johnny gets tired of their bickering only a few bites into his pancakes and wanders over. He takes the remote from his mother and looks down at all of them. They immediately quiet down and look up at him. “Now girls, what did I say yesterday?” He asks sternly.

“You said you would choose what we watched, then the next day, one of us could choose what we watched.” Janette, the youngest, answers. Johnny nods.

“Right. Now, since yesterday we watched cartoons, which is what Janette likes to watch, I think Sally should choose today, and tomorrow, Margaret will choose.”

“But that’s not fair!” Janette whines. Johnny knew that no matter what he said, at least one of them would complain about it being unfair.

“Or,” Johnny begins to raise his voice, “I could just turn the TV to static and you can watch that until the bus comes.”

“No!” All the girls protest at once.

“Then let Sally choose today, and tomorrow will be Margaret's turn, then Janette, you can choose again the day after tomorrow, okay?” Johnny says, looking between the three girls.

“Fine.” Janette pouts. Johnny then hands the remote to Sally, who immediately begins looking for the nature channel. Johnny sits back down at the table and resumes eating. Although, now his pancakes were colder and much less appetizing.

“I’m so glad I had you.” Martha sighs with relief as she leans up against the table in exhaustion. Johnny laughs.

“Worn out already? It’s only seven-o-two.”

“Hey, when you’re a parent, you’ll understand.” Martha says.

“I’m already basically a parent. I babysit while you and Clyde are working odd hours, which seems to be a lot more often recently. I do my fair share of cleaning up and looking after the girls.” Johnny remarks, licking the syrup from his fingers and finishing off his juice. “Not to mention I cook, and clean, and repair Janette’s teddy bear that she keeps ripping holes in.”

“Yeah, you’re going to be a great stay at home mom, Johnathon.” Martha jokes.

“Ha ha, very funny.”

“Talk to me about parenting when you’re working eight or more hour shifts and are paying to feed, clothe, and educate your kids.”

“Fair point.” Johnny says, standing up and taking his dishes into the kitchen.

“Ew! That lion just eated a deer!” Janette yells out in disgust.

“It’s, ‘ **ate** a deer,’ Janette. And I’m pretty sure what that lion ate wasn’t a deer if it’s in Africa.” Johnny shouts from the kitchen.

“What is it then?” Janette asks.

“It’s a Brazil, you noid!” Margaret attempts to correct Janette.

“I think you mean, ‘gazelle,’ honey, and stop calling your sister a noid.” Martha says. Johnny can’t help but chuckle at the girls’ innocence. Every time he was around the girls he felt like a little kid again. Being an older brother always seemed to have its rewards. After Johnny had thoroughly cleaned his dishes, he walks back into the living room and grabs his book bag, throwing it over his shoulders and making his way to the door. “Are you leaving already?” Martha asks with a surprised look on her face. Johnny nods.

“Yeah. I wanna get there early for tutoring with Ms. Fraiser.”

“Oh, okay then. Well, be careful walking there. It’s still a little dark.” Martha replies. Johnny chuckles.

“You worry too much.”

“I can’t help it. It’s a mother’s first instinct.”

“You know I’ll be careful. I’m just as worried about my safety as you are.” Johnny assures. His mother smiles and walks over to kiss him on the head.

“I’m so glad I gave birth to such a smart boy.” She coos fondly, pulling him into a hug. Johnny gives her an uncomfortable laugh and slides out of her grasp.

“Alright, mom. Love you! Love you, girls!” Johnny shouts as he exits his house. All the girls wave goodbye to him, before he dashes out into the street. He slows his pace as the sneaking thought that he had forgotten something enters his head. He chocks it up to his brain just getting used to a change in schedule and continues on his way.

 

Once Johnny arrives at school, he sees that the building is almost empty, besides a few janitors and the occasional early student such as himself. This was just how he liked it; sparse and quiet. He takes his time making his way to Ms. Fraiser’s class. She was at the beginning of the hallway, so he didn’t have that far to walk. When he arrives at her room, he sees that the lights are off and her door is locked. “Shoot.” He mumbles, turning around and heading back into the commons area. He sits down at a table and takes out a piece of notebook paper and a pencil. He begins to scribble about on the front. Halfway into his drawing, he begins to feel strange. His blood begins pumping faster and his skin tinges with a sudden onset of cold sweat. He knows this feeling. Anxiety. Why was he feeling anxious all of a sudden? There was nothing to be anxious about. He begins to look around the commons area as more students were beginning to enter. _“Oh no,”_ He thinks to himself, _“this isn’t good. What if I have a panic attack in front of all these people?”_ He stands up quickly and begins to pace around a bit. Pacing usually helped him subdue the anxiety for at least a little while. He glances around the room as he feels eyes upon him. Or so he thinks. His paranoia was beginning to set in, which was definitely not helping his anxiety. Suddenly, a familiar voice snaps him out of it.

“Hey, Kid.” Johnny turns around to see Emette standing behind him. He would smile, if his anxiety weren’t so bad right now. Although, some of it was eased upon seeing him. Emette quirks a brow at the boy’s strange behavior. “You alright?” He asks, observing the way his body shakes and quivers. Johnny shakes his head.

“Uh-uh…” He mutters.

“What’s wrong?”

“A-Anxiety…” Johnny stutters. He was never good at controlling his anxiety attacks, and even worse at controlling his panic attacks. Just then, a terrifying thought hit him. _“What if I have a panic attack in front of Emette and weird him out?”_ Johnny thinks to himself. His breathing picks up, and his body shudders even more. People were beginning to notice now. Some of them stood and whispered to their friends. Emette can only watch Johnny as he hears his quick breathing. He sees his eyes darting back and forth and looks to the people crowding around them. As Johnny begins to pull his hair, Emette places a hand on his shoulder.

“Let’s go outside, Kid.” He suggests. Johnny looks up at him with wild eyes, but nods in agreement. Although his legs feel like jelly, he manages to make it outside with Emette. Johnny begins pacing once again as Emette leans up against the wall of the school. They were hidden in a spot behind some of the decorative bushes and trees so that no one could see them.

“I don’t know w-what to d-do Emette…” Johnny laments in a trembling voice, “I-I can’t…” He isn’t able to finish his sentence and instead, begins to pant for breath.

“Do you take medication or something for this, Kid?” Emette asks. Johnny’s eyes shoot wide open and his breathing stops. It suddenly dawns on him.

“I forgot to take my medicine this morning…oh no! No wonder I’m so anxious! No, no, no!” Johnny becomes frantic and begins to hyperventilate. Emette stands upright and grabs Johnny’s shoulders.

“Look at me.” He says calmly. Johnny does as he says.

“Emette…Emette…Emette!” He mumbles his name until a sudden surge of anxiety rips through his body.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Look at me. Look me in the eye.” Emette steadily consoles him. Johnny grips Emette’s arms tight as he gazes into his gentle eyes. “Breathe. Try and steady your breathing.”

“I can’t…I can’t!” Another surge of anxiety causes Johnny to nearly lose his balance and fall; his legs giving out on him for a moment. Emette helps him regain his balance and lifts the other’s chin up so that their looking into each other’s eyes again.

“Shh. Breathe. You can do it.” Emette reassures. Johnny now grips Emette’s shoulders as his breath begins to slowly but surely calm. His wild eyes begin to return to normal and his grip lightens. Emette smiles. “Good kid. You’re doing great.” He encourages. Johnny takes deep breaths and focuses hard on settling his nerves. He eventually regains himself completely. He leans up against Emette, still panting gently, but overall feeling at peace. Emette pats and rubs his back lightly. “Good kid.” He once again whispers. Johnny smiles at the compliment. It takes him a minute before he realizes what he’s doing. He suddenly jerks away, an embarrassed blush spreads across his face. He avoids eye contact as he speaks.

“S-Sorry man! I don’t know what came over me. I just get this really good feeling after panic attacks, and I, uh…” Johnny once again begins to trail off. Emette chuckles and ruffles his hair.

“Don’t worry about it, Kid. I’m just glad you’re alright.” Johnny chuckles as well in a nervous manner.

“Thanks for helping me out. I was really afraid of having a panic attack in front of all of those people.” Johnny says.

“No problem. I’m here if you ever need me again.” Emette replies with a friendly smile. Johnny smiles back, before it fades and he lets out a long sigh.

“I just don’t know what I’m gonna do if I have another anxiety attack today.”

“Come find me.”

“In the middle of class?”

“Yeah! Just tell the teacher what’s up and ask if you can come see me. Or go to the councilor’s office and have her call me up there to help calm you down.” Emette suggests as the two walk back into the school building.

“Alright. I can try.” Johnny says.

"If you can’t get to me, just remember to breathe and try to collect yourself. Don’t freak out if you feel more anxiety coming on, that’ll only make it worse.” Emette instructs. Johnny nods, feeling that he understood the other. He looks up at the big clock in the commons area and turns to Emette.

“We need to hurry and get to class.” Emette looks up at the big clock as well and hums in agreement. The two begin to speed walk through the crowds of people. Johnny’s mind races as he replays the situation over and over again in his head. He was in shock at how kind Emette was to him despite them only really knowing each other for a little more than a day. The paranoid half of his brain was telling him that he should be afraid of this, while the rational half told him that Emette was just a naturally kind person. Either way, Johnny was pleased, to say the least.

 

During class, Johnny’s anxiety seems to be dormant for the most part. Possibly because Emette was only sitting three seats away from him in the front row. The sight of the other boy in front of him calms his nerves, as he knows help wouldn’t be too far away. The memory of this morning keeps him warm as well and the class seems to go by rather quickly for him. Emette meets him at the door, and the two smile at each other. However, Johnny is soon hit by a sudden realization. He wouldn’t see Emette for three more class periods until lunch. His anxiety creeps back up into his body; ready to spread like a malignant disease and cause him horrible suffering later in the day. Emette can see the sudden change in mood on his face and sets a hand on his back to help relax his nerves. Johnny steadies his breathing as the two walk down the hallway. “Try and keep yourself together as best you can for the rest of the day, Kid. Only come to me if you _really_ need me. I’ll see you at lunch.” Emette says with a reassuring smile before he and Johnny part ways.

 _“He’s right,”_ Johnny says to himself, _“I can’t rely on him every time I get anxious.”_ Although, to him it seemed like the easiest option, since dealing with anxiety by himself was hell. He wonders if Emette has the same problems with anxiety. _“Maybe that’s why he was so good at helping me.”_ He thinks, as he enters the classroom and takes his seat. His teacher was already writing on the board, “test today.” Johnny suddenly remembers the math test he had been studying for last night. His stomach twists and he immediately feel nauseous. Even though he had studied as much as he could, he still felt as though he had not had an adequate enough time to actually retain any information. He grips the edges of his desk as his breathing quickens. He tries to remember what all Emette had told him to do. He takes in deep breaths and focuses his eyes on his desk. Just as his nerves were settling, one of his classmates taps him on the shoulder.

“You alright, man?” He asks. Johnny’s eyes dart around the room. People were looking at him like he was crazy. That was enough to set him off. He rushes into the hallway and begins pacing. All the students either begin laughing amongst themselves or whispering to each other in confusion. The teacher sets her papers down and walks out into the hallway.

“Johnathon. Are you alright?” She asks. Johnny shakes his head. “Do you need to see the councilor?” He nods and she swiftly walks into the classroom to write him a pass. As soon as she comes back out and hands it to him, he nearly bolts down the hallway towards the councilor’s office. Once there, he shakily requests the councilor who motions him into her room. He paces the floor and mumbles to himself. The fact that he had someone staring at him as he did so wasn’t helping him relax in the slightest. The councilor hadn’t met him at all since the year had begun and Johnny thought this to be a terrible first impression. The councilor takes a moment before speaking in a mildly confused voice.

“Hi, Johnathon! I’m Ms. Swane. What seems to be the problem here?” Johnny only glances at her occasionally as his worsening anxiety grips him tighter. He is hardly able to speak until a sudden spark ignites in his body.

“Emette Manning!” He shouts. Ms. Swane jumps back at the sudden outburst. “I-I need to talk to Emette Manning!” Ms. Swane gives him a confused look.

“Why?”

“B-Because…h-he can help me…”

“Well, sweetie, that’s what I’m here for.”

“No! You don’t know how!” Johnny yells. He didn’t mean to sound rude, but it was hard when he wasn’t getting what he needed. “Please!” Ms. Swane is against calling other students up unless the two had an altercation of some kind. However, she was unsure she would be able to do anything for Johnny herself, so she begins flipping through her book, looking for Emette’s schedule. Meanwhile, Johnny is on the verge of erupting into tears as fight or flight begins to set in. Ms. Swane quickly finds what class he’s in and calls for him over the phone. Hearing her call for him sets Johnny’s oncoming panic attack back a few minutes. Emette makes haste to the councilor’s office, knowing exactly what it was about. He did feel a tad annoyed by the fact that Johnny was calling him up so soon, until he walks in and sees the state Johnny is in. Johnny was kneeling on the ground hyperventilating, hands planted on the walls and balled into fists.

“Kid?” Emette says quizzically, staring down at him with a concerned look on his face. Johnny recognizes the voice and immediately turns his head to look at him. He fumbles over trying to swiftly stand to his feet and nearly falls onto Emette as he pulls him into a hug. Emette is taken aback by this at first, but soon hears the other crying and realizes the extent of his anxiety. _“He must have a disorder,”_ Emette thinks to himself. He now knows why Johnny must need someone like him so much. He holds Johnny’s trembling body close while Ms. Swane watches, taking mental notes on how to deal with children that may have similar problems. Emette wasn’t used to being this affectionate or comforting, so this was a little weird for him. Nonetheless, he gives it his all and rubs Johnny’s back. “It’s okay, Kid,” he whispers, “you’re gonna be okay.”

“It won’t stop…it won’t stop…” Johnny sobs, squeezing Emette tighter.

“You can do it. Just breathe.”

“I can’t…I can’t…”

“Yes you can. I know you can. You’ve done it before.” Emette hums. Johnny deepens his breathing desperately as he tries to make the panic attack stop. “Easy, Kid. Don’t overdo it.” Emette says.

“I-I want it to stop…”

“I know you do, but you have to take it slow and be patient. Otherwise, you’ll end up hurting yourself.”

“O-Okay…okay...okay...” Johnny stutters, taking in slower breaths. With each word his voice gets softer until all Emette can hear is his breathing once more.

“There you go. Good kid.” Emette encourages as Johnny’s tight hug loosens. Emette thanks God that he can finally breathe properly. It was just then that he realizes how badly Johnny was shaking. He could feel how much he quivers in his arms, which prompts him to hold him a bit tighter in order to support him. Once Johnny’s breathing steadies and his trembling dies down enough to where he can stand properly, the two pull away from each other.

“I’m so sorry…” Johnny apologizes. Emette gives him a puzzled look.

“For what?”

“For bothering you…” Johnny replies with regret in his voice. Emette ruffles his hair.

“There’s no need to apologize, Kid. You didn’t bother me.” Emette smiles reassuringly. Johnny sniffles, but smiles in return. “I do think you need to call your mom and tell her that you forgot to take your meds this morning, though.” Johnny nods in agreement and turns to Ms. Swane.

“Can I call my mom?” He asks. Ms. Swane nods and pushes the phone towards him almost pleadingly. He thanks her and picks the phone up off of the receiver; typing in his home phone number and holding the phone up to his ear. It was still early in the morning and she should still be home. The phone rings a few times before Martha picks up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, mom. I forgot to take my anxiety medication this morning.” Johnny informs. Martha is silent for a moment before responding.

“Is it bad?”

“Yes. It’s really bad.” Johnny replies. Martha sighs.

“Alright. I’ll be there in a few.” Johnny thanks his mom before hanging up the phone and turning to Emette. He avoids eye contact nervously as he speaks.

“Thank you for helping me out. I know it was probably a little awkward for you.”

“It’s no trouble, Kid. Don’t worry about it.” Emette pats Johnny’s shoulder, warranting a grin from him. “I’m gonna head back to class now. You think you’ll be okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine.” Johnny says. Emette says his goodbyes and leaves the councilor’s office.

 

_(R-slur and f-slur in this paragraph)_

Once Johnny had taken his medicine, he returns to school in time for third period. He sits down in his seat and begins writing down the notes on the board. However, he is interrupted when his shoulder is once again tapped by one of his classmates. He turns around to see someone who said he was his, “friend,” although Johnny was never too sure. He seemed to only like him because he was easy to mooch off of. “Hey, Johnny!” He says in an overly friendly voice. “Can I copy your homework? I was too busy last night to do mine.” Johnny hesitates for a moment, before passing his sheet of homework to the boy. Once the other boy had copied his homework, he hands the sheet back to Johnny without thanking him. Soon after, another person taps his shoulder. Johnny recognizes him as someone who hung out with the other boy a lot. They were part of some kind of clique and had a tendency to be a troublesome bunch. It always made Johnny uncomfortable, however he was desperate for friends. Johnny hands his homework to the other boy, who once again copies and hands him back the paper without thanking him. The teacher soon walks in and begins his lecture. Johnny listens closely and takes notes; all the while worrying about what these boys might try next. Once the class bell rings, he snaps out of his thoughts and gathers his things. As he exits the classroom, he can feel the boys following him, although he refuses to turn around. The walk to the lunchroom seemed much longer than usual. He hardly has time to make it out of the double doors before they stop him.

“Where are you going, Johnny?” One boy, the second tallest, asks.

“To the bleachers to eat lunch.” Johnny replies quietly. The boy snorts.

“Why? You got a problem with sitting with us?”

“I never sit with you guys.”

“Well you are today! Come sit with us. You always look so lonely sitting by yourself.”

“But, I have somebody to sit with.” Johnny says, avoiding eye contact. The boys look at each other with big, mocking grins on their faces.

“There’s no way you’re sitting with someone. You said it yourself; you don’t like people watching you eat for some reason.”

“Probably because he’s such a fatass!” One of the other boys, the tallest, chuckles. They all begin to laugh. Johnny, not wanting to seem like he can’t take a joke, reluctantly laughs with them. He wasn’t exactly, “fat,” he was just a little more on the pudgy side. Despite this, the joke was enough to discourage him from wanting to eat with Emette anymore. Once the laughing dies down, the boys look at him and his expression.

“Pfft- What’s that face for? Are you offended?”

“Huh? N-No…” Johnny denies.

“Good. Only r*tards get offended by these kinds of jokes.” Johnny winces at the wording he uses. He hated that word, despite it being the in the common vernacular of many people.

“I think Johnny is a r*tard. He doesn’t understand what sarcasm is.” The tallest boy comments. The group once again begins laughing, but this time Johnny only gives a faked smile. As the boys continue to insult him, Johnny suddenly hears a voice, and all the boys go silent.

“Hey, Kid! I was wondering where you were. Come sit on the bleachers with us.” Emette says, before looking to the boys. Emette greets them, and they look amongst themselves.

“Who is this, Johnny?” Asks one of the boys.

“I’m Emette Manning. Nice to meet ya!” Emette says, holding out his hand. No one takes it, and Emette chuckles. “Not fond of shaking hands, I see. What is it? Germs? Culture? Religion?” The group seems a little bit intimidated by his presence. Johnny takes notice and scoots closer to the other for protection. The second tallest of them, who seems to be the lead boy in charge, gives a slightly friendlier grin to Emette before speaking.

“My name’s Justin, and this is Cole, and Jacob.” He says, introducing the other guys as well. The shortest one being Cole and the tallest being Jacob. Emette nods in acknowledgement. “Say, uh, you’re the one on the football team, right? The star player?” Justin asks. Emette proudly nods.

“Yup! That’s me! What, were you looking for an autograph or something?” He jokes with a chuckle. The three boys exchange nervous looks and Justin runs his hand across his slicked back, black hair and sighs. Johnny looks amongst everyone in confusion. What was going on here? The group of bullies all seemed to change their demeanor as soon as Emette showed up.

“Is Johnny like, your friend or something?” Jacob asks in his high pitched, nasally voice.

“Yep!” Emette pats Johnny’s shoulder fondly. Johnny was delighted to hear this, and hides a smile behind his lunchbox. Jacob can’t help but laugh, and the other boys join in. Emette displays a bewildered look. “Why is that funny?” The boys quiet down and Jacob points to Johnny.

“Cause he’s such a loser! Why would the star of the football team _and_ a straight A student be hanging out with this r*tard?” Johnny’s smile immediately drops and he hides his entire face behind his lunchbox.

“Look at him! He’s probably crying. Can never handle a little sarcasm.” Jacob remarks.

“What a f*g!” Justin snorts.

“Sarcasm?” Emette says in a confused tone, looking directly and the venomous clique. They all stop their laughter at once and stare at Emette. “I think you have it backwards, that wasn’t sarcasm at all.” Emette takes a single step closer and the boys back up. Johnny reveals his misty eyes in order to watch what was about to unfold. “Those were insults. No deeper meanings, no subtexts, just pure, unadulterated, insults.” He continues to gradually step forward as he speaks, prompting the three guys to take even more steps back. Emette still keeps his calm, cool demeanor as he talks to the boys, freaking them out even further. “Now, why would you pick on the kid? I seriously doubt someone like him would purposely do anything wrong by you all.”

“Y-You’ve got it all wrong! We’re his friends!” Justin stutters. Emette quirks a brow.

“Friends?” He laughs. “In what universe was any of that even remotely friendly?”

“Johnny thought the jokes were funny! He was laughing!” Jacob says.

“Except those weren’t jokes, and Johnny wasn’t actually laughing. Listen, it may just be me, but I think Johnny deserves an apology, don’t you?” Emette stops walking and the boys look amongst themselves.

“But-…”

“Or,” Emette interrupts, reaching into his pocket. The boys’ eyes lock on his pocket and they immediately rush over to apologize to Johnny. Emette follows and watches as they all stand around him in silence for a moment. Justin hesitates to say anything at first, but eventually musters up the courage to swallow his pride and speak.

“We’re sorry for baggin’ on ya, Johnny.” He says. Cole nods and Jacob shares his words of agreement as well.

“Uh…i-it’s okay, I guess?” Johnny replies, still hiding behind the safety of his red lunchbox. The three boys then turn to Emette, who nods. The group then slowly pass around him. Emette pretends to lunge at Cole, prompting him to flinch and scurry to the front of the pack. Emette laughs and wanders back over to a distraught Johnny.

“You alright, Kid?” Emette asks. Johnny shrugs.

“Yeah. Thanks for sticking up for me.” He replies with a hint of embarrassment in his voice. Emette gives him a concerned look.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’m just a little bit embarrassed is all.” The blonde one admits.

“Why?”

“I guess I just didn’t want you to see me like this. I already looked vulnerable enough to you before, what with the whole panic attack thing.” Johnny laments. Emette places a hand on his soft blonde hair and ruffles it gently.

“It’s alright, Kid. I don’t think any less of ya!” He grins. Johnny smiles up at him in return. “Now, come on and eat with us. We don’t have too much longer left for lunch, and Tyrese and Ulysses are probably wondering where we are.” Johnny looks down at the ground gloomily.

“Actually…I think I’ll just sit by myself from now on.” Shocked, Emette stares down at him.

“Huh? Why?” Johnny shakes his head.

“It’s a long story.”

“I got time.” Johnny remains silent for a moment, trying to muster up the courage to answer the other truthfully. With a sigh, he finally admits his plight to Emette.

“Those guys…they make fun of me a lot for being a little on the chubby side…and I’ve had trouble eating in front of other people for a while now. I was being really brave when you asked me to come sit with you guys yesterday, but now I feel like some kind of…slob, for lack of a better word.” Emette listens intently and notices how the boy’s expression only gets more depressed and how his voice seems to get softer with each word he says.

“Hey, Kid, come on. You know I don’t think you’re a slob for eating.” Emette assures him.

“But…what about Tyrese and Ulysses?”

“Trust me, Kid. They could care less how or what you eat. They’re some of the messiest eaters I’ve ever seen, anyway. So they don’t have any room to judge how other people eat.” Johnny smiles a bit at the reassurance.

“Okay, then. I’ll come back to the bleachers to eat lunch with you guys.” Emette pats his shoulder.

“Attaboy! We need to hurry, though. We’ve only got like, ten minutes left.” Johnny nods and the two hurry out of the double doors.

“Say, what were you reaching for in your pocket back there?” Johnny asks

“Oh!” Emette reaches into his pocket and pulls out the object in question. “Just my keys!”

“Phew! Okay.” Johnny sighs with relief. “I thought you were going to pull out something different.”

“Oh, you mean something like this?” Emette pulls out and flicks open his pocket knife.

“Emette!” Johnny exclaims and jumps back. Emette cackles and closes the blade before discarding it into his pocket.

 

After lunch, Johnny was happy to go to his fifth period class for a change. It was study hall, which would have been helpful to him, if everyone in there wasn’t rowdy and unruly. Johnny likened it to a zoo with no cages, just a small fence that was the door; the only thing standing between them and sweet freedom. The teacher was a rather laid back and uncaring fellow, unfortunately; the careless zookeeper. Johnny often felt like he was a bored patron, who, amongst all the excitement, was only trying to read his book and not get trampled by the wild beasts who ran rampant all over the enclosed area. _“School is a cruel jungle,”_ He thinks, as he opens his science book. Despite hardly being able to focus, what with all the shouting and laughing, he still holds onto that warm feeling he always feels after being around Emette. This makes study hall much more bearable for him.

 

By the time the end of the day rolls around, Johnny decides to wait for Emette by the double doors that lead out to the parking lot once again. He doesn’t have to wait long, as Emette exits the building. He immediately sees the blonde boy standing in front of him and chuckles a bit to himself. “Were you waiting on me, Kid?” He asks with a cool smile on his face. Johnny nods shyly.

“Heh, yeah. I just wanted to say hi before I headed home.” He remarks. Emette felt oddly charmed by the gesture and ruffles the boy’s hair, warranting a giggle from him.

“How about I take you home? It’s not that far from my house.” The taller boy suggests. Johnny’s face lights up.

“Yeah!” He chimes excitedly. Emette motions him to follow and Johnny does so without protest. Emette doesn’t even have to tell the other to hop in, as he had already done so as soon as they reach the car. The darker skinned boy slips in and starts up the car. He revs up the engine as always before turning out of the parking lot. Emette deliberately drives slower than usual. He decides to take a detour and Johnny turns to Emette. “Where are we going? My house is the other way.” He asks.

“I just figured you might want to ride with me a little longer.” Emette replies. Johnny smiles bashfully, realizing that Emette had figured him out by now.

“Y-Yeah! Heh heh…” The blonde boy chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Emette smiles at the boy’s behavior. Johnny looks around the little town they lived in as they pass small shops and stores. Johnny rarely got to see this part of town since he didn’t get out of the house much; other than to go to school. Emette wasn’t liking all the silence between them, and he doubts Johnny would break it anytime soon. So he decides to make small talk.

“So, Kid. How’s school been for ya?” He asks. Johnny sighs.

“Stressful. Math is my worst subject right now, and I don’t exactly have the best grade in Ms. Frasier’s class.” Emette nods.

“You know, I’m pretty good at math. I can help you out if you ever need it.”

“Really?”

“Sure! You like coming over to my place, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you can come over whenever you need to after school and we can work on it some! Then, after we’re done working, we can hang out. How’s that sound?” Johnny couldn’t believe what was happening to him right now. Never in a million years did he think he’d be hearing this from Emette Manning; one of the most popular, charismatic, and loved people in school, who just so happened to also be his number one idol. The blonde boy quickly nods in agreement, trying his best to contain his excitement.

“Yeah! I could really use some tutoring!” Emette notices how Johnny’s blue eyes seem to sparkle whenever he said something that made him happy. It was cute, to say the least. However, the sparkle soon fades as Johnny once again sighs and leans back into the seat. “Ms. Frasier wanted to set me up with a tutor, but I said no because I was too shy to try and meet someone new. I knew I would never be able to learn anything if I was sitting next to someone who I felt nervous around and didn’t want anything to do with.”

“Well, there’s no need to worry about that now, Kid. Cause you’ve got me.” Emette assures. Johnny smiles, but soon brings his hands to his face and groans. Emette quirks a brow at this. “You alright, Kid?”

“Ugh. Emette, do you ever feel like you’re losing your mind?” Johnny asks. Emette laughs.

“I’ve already lost it once! Hopefully never again.” The black haired boy pauses for a moment, and Johnny stares at him. He notices a very slight change in his expression. “But, that’s a story for another day." Johnny gives him a concerned look, but says nothing altogether. Another moment of silence stirs between the two. Emette begins to regret bringing such a thing up. The heavy silence soon becomes unbearable for the blonde boy, and he finally settles on a subject to discuss.

“So, how far apart are you and Sarah?” He asks.

“Only about two years.”

“So, she’s sixteen?”

“Yep! See? You’re not as bad at math as you think.” Emette’s joke gets a little chuckle out of Johnny. “Why do you ask? You weren’t thinking about getting me to set you up with her, were you?” Emette’s tone changes from joking to teasing as he leans in closer to the other.

“What? No way!” Johnny quickly denies. Emette laughs.

“Just messin’ with ya, Kid! I wouldn’t set you up with her, anyway. Don’t take it personally, I just don’t trust guys around her. Especially guys eighteen and older.” Emette informs.

“I understand that. I’m really protective of my little sisters, too. Of course, they’re at an age where they can’t do much on their own and **definitely** don’t need to be dating!” Johnny remarks.

“I didn’t know you had sisters! How old are they?”

“Well, Janette’s the youngest; she’s five. Sally’s the middle child; she’s seven. And Margaret’s nine, so she’s the oldest.”

“Wow. They must be a lot to keep track of at such young ages.” Johnny sighs in exhaustion. Just thinking about keeping up with the girls wore him out.

“Ugh. You have no idea.” He says, leaning his head back. “But, I really do love them. And they can be really fun! I miss being that young, everything was so much simpler.”

“Well, those days are over now. Nothing you can do about it. It’s all in the past.” Emette says. Johnny quirks an eyebrow at the response. Emette seemed to be talking to himself more than to him, Johnny thinks. It was mostly in his tone, more than anything. He looks over to Emette’s overly concentrated face. He seemed to be lost in his own mind; staring at the road in some kind of thoughtful stupor. Johnny’s voice is small as he speaks.

“Did I…bring something up that I shouldn’t have?” Emette snaps out of his focused state upon hearing Johnny’s words.

“Huh? Oh! Nah, you’re good.” He smiles reassuringly at the other. “You’ll have to forgive me, I have a tendency to zone out while I’m driving. I get too focused on the road, ha ha.” Johnny smiles in return and nods.

 

The duo spend a few more minutes leisurely driving around town, talking about nothing in particular. Johnny tries to avoid any personal subjects, as he can see that Emette wasn’t exactly the type to reveal any intimate information. Emette drops the boy off at his house. “You mind if I walk up with you?” The black haired boy asks. Johnny shrugs.

“If you want.” He couldn’t think of any reason why Emette would want to walk up the front door of his house; perhaps other than to meet his family. Johnny slowly opens the door, to see his mother sitting on the couch while the girls play on the floor. “Hey, mom.” Johnny greets.

“Johnathon! I was starting to get worried about you! Where have you been?” She scolds. Johnny rubs the back of his neck.

“Well…” Before he can say anything, Emette nudges past him and greets his mother.

“I’m sorry Mrs. Carmichael. I offered to take him home and we took a longer route than usual. It was my fault.” He explains. Martha’s anger seems to fade when she sees Emette and a motherly sense of excitement fills her heart. She grins and looks to Johnny.

“Oh, is this the friend that you were telling me about, Johnathon?” An embarrassed blush spreads across the boy’s cheeks.

“Yes, mom. This is Emette.” He mumbles. Emette offers the woman his hand, and she delightfully shakes it.

“Emette Manning. Pleasure to meet ya!” He chimes. Martha’s smile only widens.

“Well, now. Aren’t you a gentleman?” She coos. Johnny hides his red face and groans. He loves his mom, but she could be more than a little overbearing at times. Emette converses with Martha for a moment before Janette comes up and hugs the woman’s leg.

“Mommy, who are you talking to?” She asks. Emette smiles down at her.

“Hey!” He chirps in a friendly voice. Janette gives him a wave and grins, showing off her gap tooth where one of her baby teeth fell out.

“Hi! My name’s Janette!”

“Hey there, Janette! My name’s Emette. Nice to meet you.” He kneels down so that he and the girl are eye level. She giggles.

“Can I call you, Emmy?” She asks.

“Sure!” Emette replies. The two other girls come running up to see what was going on. Martha moves out of the way a bit to allow them all to meet Emette. He beams at them all in a friendly manner and they smile back. “And what are all of your names?” He asks. Sally answers quickly with excitement in her voice, wanting to beat Margaret to greeting the man.

“I’m Sally! I’m this many!” She holds out seven fingers enthusiastically.

“Really? Wow! You’re a big girl, aren’t you?” Emette says in an impressed tone.

“She likes to think so.” Martha comments. Margaret pushes past Sally.

“I’m an even bigger girl! I’m nine!” She informs proudly.

“Wow, cool!” Emette says. Margaret nods.

“Yep! I’ll be ten in September!”

“Really now? That’s pretty soon. I’ll be sure to come to your birthday party, then.” His words make the girl’s eyes light up.

“Come to my birthday party too! It’s in January!” Sally says.

“Mines is in March! Come to mine, too!” Janette shouts.

“He said he was coming to mine, first!” Margaret growls. The girls begin to restlessly bicker with each other.

“Hey! Hey! Alright! Don’t worry, I’ll come to all of your birthdays!” Emette laughs. The girls cease their arguing and Janette pouts.

“Promise?”

“Pinky promise.” Emette holds out his pinky and Janette immediately smiles and wraps her tiny finger around his. As expected, the other two girls wanted pinky promises too, which Emette happily obliged to. Johnny chuckles. He was glad to see that Emette was so good with kids. After meeting the girls, Emette stands up straight and looks to Johnny.

“Welp. I’d better get going, Kid. You wanna hang out tomorrow, or something?” He asks. Johnny’s eyes shine with joy and he nods.

“Yeah!” He exclaims excitedly.

“Rad. I’ll pick you up and we can hang out either at my place or here, if that’s okay with your mom.” Johnny looks to his mother who nods.

“I’m sure the girls would love to have you over.” All the girls bounce up and down excitedly at the thought of Emette coming over. Emette chuckles, then waves goodbye, being sure to say goodbye to the girls as well, before he gets in his car and leaves. Johnny still had a grin on his face and turns to his mother, who smiles at him as they all enter the house. Johnny didn’t have much homework that night, so he was free to do whatever he wanted afterwards. He decides to watch TV for a while before calling it a night. He had practice after school tomorrow, which he was a little nervous about. He knew he’d have to put up with someone he didn’t particularly care for. However, he knew Emette would be there to help him out if he needed it. Once he had set his alarm, he snuggles under the covers and begins to drift off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that was chapter 2. Chapter 3 is gonna take a while, probably. I only have a little bit of it written. But that's probably gonna be one of my favorite chapters to write, since it has some of the other boys from the football team in it. I'm specifically excited about my asshole redneck son being in that chapter! Again, I hope y'all will stick around for the next chapter. Thank you homies for reading!


	3. Boys and Girls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emette's the best pretend dad in the world!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings:  
> Verbal abuse.
> 
> So, chapter 3 came out earlier than I expected it would! Don't expect this for chapter 4, though. I have NOTHING written for that chapter as of me posting this at 12:36 am, February 4th, 2017. Since today is Saturday, though, I will have a lot more time to write after riding lessons! Also, this was my favorite chapter to write so far. It's so much fun and I think y'all will enjoy it a lot more than the previous 2 chapters. Also again, I apologize for the lack of detail/accurate detail in the practice scene, I know absolutely nothing about football other than it causes brain injuries and kills several people every year. Little fun fact for ya! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this very fun chapter of Killer Idol!

The next morning, Johnny feels rested and ready to go. After settling another argument with the girls, he makes certain that he takes his anxiety meds before heading off to school. He was early again that day, and opts to sit down and draw for a bit. He had been working on the same drawing for a few days now, and was almost finished with it. After a while, he notices someone sit down beside him. It was a larger, more muscular person. Johnny covers up his paper and glances out of the corner of his eye. He recognizes the figure and looks up to him. It was one of his fellow teammates, Ulysses Greene. The man smiles down at him and Johnny gives a nervous grin back, before continuing to doodle. Ulysses was really nice, and could sometimes be just as awkward as Johnny was. He glances at Johnny’s paper, impressed at the boy’s skill.

“Watcha drawing?” The larger man asks, despite clearly seeing that it was a cat.

“Oh, uh…just a cat.” Johnny replies nervously.

“Neat! I like cats.” Ulysses remarks. There is a long pause between the two. Ulysses runs a hand over his blonde, high and tight, haircut and continues to try and make small talk. “Have you ever drawn a guinea pig before?” He asks as coolly as possible.

“Uh…no, I don’t think I have.” Johnny answers, still a little uncomfortable at the whole situation. Ulysses nods, seeming a little disappointed. The silence between the two continues, until the bell finally rings. Once the bell had rung, the two boys stand up.

“See you at practice, Johnny.” Ulysses says with a friendly smile. Johnny smiles back.

“See ya.” The two then go their separate ways, and Johnny arrives at his first period class, just in time to meet Emette at the door. Emette smiles nonchalantly at the boy. Johnny grins and runs up to him. “Hey, Emette!” He chimes.

“How’s it hangin’, Kid?” Emette asks, ruffling the boy’s hair. “You excited for practice today?” Johnny shrugs.

“I guess so. I’m not exactly excited about seeing you-know-who again.” The taller boy pats Johnny’s shoulder and looks him in the eye.

“Don’t worry, Kid. I got your back!” He says with a wink. Johnny stares into his brown eyes for a moment before chuckling and nodding. The two then enter the classroom and wait for the teacher.

 

_(Verbal abuse in this paragraph)_

The day seems to go by quicker than usual for Johnny, and he sighs as he makes his way out to the football field. He wanders into the locker room and retrieves his gear from his locker. He undresses in a spot that’s as secluded as possible in order to hide his half naked body from the rest of his team. Once in full gear, he grabs his helmet and heads onto the field. He sits on a bench and stares down at his helmet worryingly.

“Hey, Johnny!” He hears a voice call his name from above him. He looks up to see Tyrese smiling down at him.

“Oh. Hey, Tyrese.” Johnny says in a small voice. Tyrese quirks a brow at his behavior.

“What’s wrong, little buddy?” He asks in a concerned tone. Johnny shrugs.

“Same thing that’s always wrong with me, I guess.” Tyrese isn’t sure what he means at first, however a loud shout from afar makes Johnny jump in fright and Tyrese immediately understands.

“Git yer sorry ass outta my way!” Johnny stands up and turns in the direction of the shout, clutching his helmet tight. “I ain’t in the mood fer yer bullshit!” Another shout prompts Johnny to hide behind Tyrese’s large, plump body.

“Boy, he seems extra angry today.” Tyrese absentmindedly remarks. Johnny whimpers a bit at the other’s words. He peeks out from behind Tyrese to see a furious man stomping in their direction. He was about 5’11 and had a long, red mullet that reached down to his neck. The bottom lids of his eyes were sunken into dark bluish bags. His face was spotted with freckles and his teeth were cracked and yellowish grey; revealed by a large, crooked snarl as he makes his way to the field. His lips were abnormally long and kind of cartoonish, in a sense.

“Where the heck is Emette?” Johnny mumbles in fear. Tyrese stands in place as Johnny cowers behind him. Ulysses soon wanders over to the two, grasping his helmet as well.

“Hey, guys!” He greets in a friendly tone. Johnny shushes him.

“If he asks, I’m not here.” He whispers. Ulysses displays a confused expression, but plays along with it nonetheless. He notices the ginger walking towards them and catches on eventually. He scoots closer to Tyrese in order to hide the boy better. Once the man reaches them, he looks up at them, wearing a glower on his face.

“Move.” He says in a low, but demanding tone. Tyrese smiles at him.

“Can’t we just stand here and talk about why you’re upset?”

“I said move!” He bellows. Tyrese recoils a bit and Ulysses moves instead. The man glares at him as he passes. It takes him a moment until he notices someone huddled up against Tyrese’s back. He turns around to see Johnny. The two lock eyes and the ginger huffs. “What’re you doin’?” He asks. Johnny stands upright, trying to avoid eye contact.

“U-Um…” He stutters, trying to think of an excuse other than what he was actually doing.

“Are you hidin’ from me?” He asks. Johnny only whimpers and stands stalk still. “Answer me, dammit!”

“Come on, Stephen, leave him be.” Ulysses says in a calm voice.

“Don’t you tell me what to do!” Stephen shouts. Ulysses looks away dejectedly, knowing there was no way he could stop him without risking physical conflict. Tyrese turns around and crosses his arms.

“What’s got you so confrontational today?” He asks.

“Shut up, consarnit! I ain’t talkin’ to you!” Stephen growls. He looks back down to Johnny and glares at him. Johnny swallows hard. Stephen had never physically harmed him before, however, he was terrified of being yelled at. Especially by someone with such a sharp tongue and an explosive temper. He had seen Stephen hurt other people before, and didn’t want to be one of those people. So he chose to suffer in silence and let the man berate him. “Why don’t ya stop bein’ a sissy and face me like a fuckin’ man!?” He shouts. “This is why ya can’t play fer shit! Yer too soft and wussy!”

“Stephen.” Ulysses interrupts, having had enough of his cruel words.

“Shut yer fuckin’ mouth ya big bohunk!” Stephen bellows. Ulysses displays a soft, yet angry, expression, but looks away nonetheless. Stephen turns back to Johnny. “You’d better play right today.” He threatens.

“Heeeeey Stevie!” A sudden voice breaks the tension and Stephen feels an arm slam down on his shoulders and pull him in. The three other boys look on as Emette messes with the ginger. “How’s my favorite redneck?” Emette asks. Stephen snarls and pushes him away.

“Git the fuck away from me!” He growls.

“Aw, come on, Mudslide! I was just playin’ around!” Emette claims. Stephen glares at him.

“Quit callin’ me Mudslide!”

“Why? It’s just a friendly nickname!”

“It’s fuckin’ stupid! And so are you fer comin’ up with it!”

“Aw, come on now. That hurt my feelings.” Emette jokes, displaying an exaggerated sad expression.

“Good! Go cry about it!” Stephen barks.

“Maybe I will cry about it!” Emette gives a faux sniffle and falls onto the hick, fake bawling with his face planted into his chest. “Why, oh why, do you have to be so mean, Mudslide?!” Stephen blushes with embarrassment as Tyrese and Ulysses begin to laugh amongst themselves. Johnny hides his large grin behind his helmet, chuckling quietly as well.

“Git off me, you dick!” Stephen shoves Emette away, and he drops the act.

“You smell really good. What brand of cologne do you use?” He asks. No one could tell if the question was genuine or not.

“Freak.” Stephen insults.

“Freak? I’ve never heard of that brand before. Are you using that brand for a reason? Are you some kind of deviant, you naughty redneck?" Ulysses and Tyrese are laughing harder now, and Johnny snorts. Stephen’s blush deepens.

“I was callin’ **you** a freak!” He shouts.

“Oh, well thank you very much! You have no idea how big of a freak I am. I can go into detail, if you’d like.”

“Fuck off!”

“Are you sure you don’t want some tips? I’m sure you’re swamped with chicks with looks like yours! I mean, who doesn’t love the, ‘kicked in the face by a horse,’ look?” Tyrese and Ulysses burst into laughter and Johnny quietly cackles, turning away so that Stephen can’t see how hard he was laughing. By then, Stephen’s face was red with anger and embarrassment. He mumbles a last,

“Fuck you,” to Emette before he stomps off. Emette watches him go with a grin on his face. Tyrese, Ulysses, and Johnny eventually settle down and wander over to Emette.

“Um…thanks for running him off, Emette.” Johnny says, hiding his mouth behind his helmet bashfully. He felt as though he had just been saved by a knight in shining armor, or something along those lines. It only lead to him admiring the other more. However, he did feel a little bad for Stephen in a way. Even though he more than deserved being teased and irritated.

“No problemo, Kid! Can’t have him messing with my best friend!” Emette throws an arm around Johnny’s shoulders and ruffles his hair. Johnny beams brightly and laughs, still covering his mouth with the large, white and blue dome. The taller one’s words filled him with felicity and vigor, making him want to jump for joy. Johnny still couldn’t believe everything that was happening to him. He was so glad that he made the choice to talk to Emette this year. He could already tell that Emette was rubbing off on him in some ways. Tyrese and Ulysses watch the two boys and smile at each other.

“You two have gotten awfully friendly.” Tyrese remarks. The boys turn to face him and Emette nods.

“Yep! Johnny and I are best friends now!” Johnny was certain he was about to die of happiness. That imaginary dog tail was wagging at a terrific speed for sure. Ulysses notices how bright pink the blonde boy’s cheeks were and can’t help but snicker a little.

 

The sudden sound of a loud whistle snaps Johnny out of his thoughts and he turns his attention to the field, where a short man with a balding head, wrinkles, and a gravelly voice begins to speak.

“Alright, ladies! Line up!” He shouts. Everyone does as he says and lines up next to each other. The man flips through the papers on his clipboard and begins to count the heads of everyone present with a hand that was missing an index finger. Instead, he counted using his other three fingers with his thumb folded against the palm of his hand. After counting, he stands up straight with his hands behind his back and speaks. “Welcome to the first day of practice, bucks! My name is Coach Keeton! I was a marine back in the day and I do not put up with bullshit! You **will** do as I say when I say it or face the consequences! Do I make myself clear?!” Everyone in the line mumbles a, “sir, yes sir,” save for Ulysses, who practically shouts it, much to the annoyance of Stephen and the other boy standing next to him.

“I said, ‘do I make myself clear’?!” Coach Keeton once again yells, expecting a more enthusiastic response this time around. This time, everyone gives a loud, hearty, testosterone-heavy, “ **sir, yes sir**!”

“ **That’s** what I’m talkin’ about!” Coach says, now flipping back through his clipboard. “When I call your name, sound off! Langley!”

“Here!” Tyrese shouts.

“Carmichael!”

“Uh- here!” Johnny stutters.

“Manning!”

“Prrresent!” Emette says.

“Winthrop!”

“Present.”

“Gayley!”

“Here.”

“Biggs!”

“Here.” Stephen replies unenthusiastically. _“He sure does shout a bunch.”_ He thinks to himself as Coach continues to call roll. Stephen was preparing himself for the moment he’d call Ulysses’ name, because…

“Greene!”

“ **SIR, PRESENT, SIR!** ” Ulysses bellows. Stephen covers his ears and huffs, giving the other an elbow to his forearm. “Ow!” Coach gives Ulysses a weird look, then continues calling roll. Ulysses rubs his arm and gives Stephen a miffed look. Johnny nudges Emette and whispers to him.

“Man, he’s a lot more drill sergeant-y than Coach Crumbey was.”

“No kidding. Coach Crumbey hardly ever yelled. It’s gonna be an interesting year.”

“Hey! Quiet over there!” Coach shouts to the two boys. The two straighten themselves out and glance at each other. After Coach Keeton is done calling roll, he counts all the boys again. “…nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Ah, good! We have an even number of people! Alright, now I’m going to split you all up into teams!” He then takes the pencil from behind his ear and begins to write on a paper. “Team one will be: Gayley, Owens, Langley, Peterson, Creeks, and Carmichael!” Johnny walks over to Tyrese who high fives him as they stand on one side of the field. “Team two will be: Manning, Biggs, Reyes, Maccio, Greene, and Winthrop!” Emette waves at Stephen, who scowls in response. The boys all line up on opposite sides of the field. Coach yells out the rules and instructions. Many of them had heard them since the they first joined the team. “Let me make this clear: This is tackle, not touch! I expect effort! Ready?!” He closes his lips around the whistle and blows hard. The whistle screeches and the boys begin to charge at each other. Bodies slam into each other and the ball is tossed around. Emette gains control of it eventually. He glances around for someone to throw it to and spots Stephen. He calls out to him and throws the ball in his direction. However, Stephen refuses to catch it, and the ball hits the ground below. Shocked, Emette stares at him through his helmet until he is eventually tackled to the ground. He grunts and struggles underneath a larger body. Another screech from the whistle signals the boys to stop. Emette squirms out and stands up, brushing himself off with a huff. He shoots a glare and Stephen, who removes his helmet and retorts with a snarl. Emette yanks his helmet off and stomps over to Stephen. He stares up at him in an angry scowl as the other teammates gather around.

“You wanna tell me why you didn’t catch the ball when I threw it to you?” He growls. Stephen remains silent, crossing his arms and returning the other’s furious gaze. “Say something!” Emette shouts. Stephen doesn’t comply, prompting Emette to step in closer to him. Their faces were almost touching now, and Emette doesn’t hold back on scolding the boy. “You can hate me all you want off of the field, but when we’re on the field, we’re a fucking team, do you understand me?! If you take this game seriously; if you give a shit about anyone else on this team, you will cooperate with me. Now pull your head out of your ass!”

“You cain’t tell me want to do! You ain’t my coach!” Stephen yells. Coach walks over.

“But I am, and I agree with him! Stephen, go sit on the bench!” He demands. Stephen looks to coach, then to Emette’s angered face one last time before reluctantly storming over to the bench and laying down. Emette stares at him for a moment before taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. He turns back and addresses the team.

“Alright, team. Let’s get back to playin’.” Everyone agrees and puts their helmets back on, waiting for coach’s instructions. Stephen watches as they get back to playing and grits his teeth, rolling over with a childish sense of unfairness resting in his mind.

 

After a while of practicing, Emette looks back over to the bench where Stephen is and removes his helmet.

“I’m taking five, coach.” Emette says.

“Hurry up.” Coach replies. Emette wanders over to the bench and looks down at his teammate.

“Hey.” He greets in a low voice. Stephen huffs, his eyes remaining closed. Emette sighs and continues speaking. “I’m sorry for getting in your face.” He knew the only way to get Stephen to come around was to apologize first. Stephen opens his eyes and rolls over, beginning to sit up.

“Nah, man. I deserved it. You were right, I should’ve been working together with ya.” Stephen admits. “I’m sorry bout that.” Emette nods.

“It’s alright.”

“I do take this game real seriously. Even if I cain’t stand ya, I should be actin’ like I’m on yer side when we’re on a team together.” Emette smiles and extends a hand.

“Let’s not fight anymore on the field. It won’t be good for the team. Truce?” Stephen looks at his hand for a moment before gazing back up to him and shaking it.

“Truce.”

“You boys gonna kiss or play football?” Coach says in his gruff voice as he watches the two.

“Wait, I’m back in the game?” Stephen asks. Coach nods.

“What? Did ya think I was gonna bench ya all throughout practice?! What good would that do us?! Get yer sorry ass up and get back on the field!” Stephen nods as he stands up and puts his helmet back on. Emette pats his back and they run back over to the field and resume playing.

 

After practice, Johnny and Emette say goodbye to the rest of the team and head over to Emette’s car. As the two pull out into the street, Johnny turns to Emette.

“How in the world did you get Stephen to shake your hand?” He asks. Emette shrugs.

“I just played on his emotions.” Johnny displays a surprised expression. The way he said that made it sound like some kind of dirty trick.

“How did you do that?”

“Well, I brought up football and mentioned it being important to him. I know it’s important to him, which brought out his sympathetic side. Then, I calmly apologized first, even though I had every right to yell at him. That also played to his sympathetic side. He admitted he was wrong, I gave him a smile and offered a truce, and then we shook hands! Easy as that!” Emette replies in a laid back manor.

“Wow.” Johnny sits back. “I had no idea there was that much to getting people to be friendly with you.” Emette chuckles.

“It’s all about reading and assessing. It also helps to know a bit about psychology, too.”

“Are you taking a class for psychology right now, or something?”

“Nah. But I do go to the library every now and then.”

“Really? I love going to the library! I usually walk there on weekend nights.”

“You walk? Which library do you go to?”

“Willow Water Public Library. You know, the one down the road and across the street from that creepy old abandoned house in the woods?” Emette nods.

“Ah, I see. I drive to the smaller library down on Mainers Ferry Street.”

“That’s a long ways away, though!”

“Yeah, I know! But it’s worth the drive. I like smaller libraries as opposed to public ones.” Johnny nods.

“Maybe I should go there sometime, too!”

“We can both go together one day, if you want.” Johnny agrees almost immediately.

“Yeah!” Hanging out at the library sounded like the lamest thing to do. However, considering who he was with, Johnny was almost certain he would enjoy it. He knew Emette would find some way to make it more interesting for both of them.

 

Before they know it, both of them are at Johnny’s house. The two hop out and walk inside. “Hey, mom!” Johnny greets. His mother and Clyde were sitting at the table with the girls all gathered around them. They all, as expected, immediately stop what they’re doing and run up to Emette.

“Emmy!” Janette exclaims and hugs his leg. Emette laughs and leans down, picking the girl up. She giggles and hugs his neck.

“Hey there! Miss me?”

“Yeah!”

“I missed you too, Emette!”

“Me too!” Margret and Sally say. Emette crouches down and brings the other two girls in for a hug.

“Well I missed you all, too!” A big smile embraces Johnny’s face as he watches the four interact. Martha and Clyde also smile at the scene. Once Emette lets the girls go, he stands up straight and looks to the blonde boy. “Did you have anything in particular in mind that you wanted to do?”

“Um…no, I don’t think so.” Johnny says, looking down to the girls. He smirks as he gets an idea. “I think we should ask the girls what we should do!” All the girls immediately begin calling out ideas.

“Let’s play hide and seek!”

“House! House!”

“I wanna have a tea party!” They all bounce up and down. Emette hums.

“How about we play house? I like that idea.”

“Yes!” Sally exclaims. Johnny and Emette chuckle.

“Alright then, let’s head on into your room!” Johnny chimes. The children excitedly rush into their room and begin setting up the play kitchen area. Emette and Johnny watch as they set everything up hurriedly with amused expressions. Once the girls are through putting everything in place, the two boys walk over.

“Okay, Johnny, you’ll be the mommy. And Emmy will be the daddy.” Janette informs. She appeared to be the one in charge of giving everyone their titles.

“What? Why am I the mom?” Johnny blurts.

“Cause, you act like one.” Janette informs. “And Emmy acts like a dad.”

“But, you hardly know him!” Emette throws an arm around Johnny’s shoulders.

“Come on, now, Sweetcheeks. Just let the girls have their fun!” He says. Johnny blushes at the pet name. He knew Emette was just joking, but that didn’t make it any less strange. Janette then points to herself.

“I’ll be the kid. Margaret, you’re the aunty, and Sally…” She studies Sally for a moment. “Sally, you’ll be the dog.”

“What?! No fair! I don’t wanna be the dog!” Margaret and Emette both start laughing (given, Emette’s laughter was much more discrete than Margaret’s). “It’s not funny!” Sally shouts, her eyes beginning to well up with tears.

“Alright, alright. No one’s gonna be the dog.” Johnny interrupts. “How about this: Sally can be the neighbor from across the street’s kid? How’s that sound?” Sally nods in agreement.

“But who’s gonna be the dog?” Janette asks distraughtly. Johnny goes over to the large pile of stuffed animals next to the girl’s bed. He pulls out a stuffed dog that was missing an eye.

“How about we let Scout be the dog since he is one?” Johnny suggests. He sets the dog on one of the plastic tables. Janette looks at Scout and huffs.

“Fine.” She pouts.

“Alright, so what’s the storyline here?” Emette asks.

“How about Emette comes home from work while Janette and I are playing?” Sally suggests.

“What do I do, then?” Margaret asks.

“Well, aunties are really annoying. So you can just be yourself.” Janette replies. Emette snorts and chokes back a laugh. Margaret scowls at the younger girl.

“That wasn’t nice, you noid!” She growls. Janette sticks her tongue out at her, and Margaret grabs her by her shirt.

“Let go!” Janette screams

“Girls! Girls!” Johnny steps in between the two and gently grabs Margaret’s wrist, prying it from the fabric. “If all you’re going to do is argue, then Emette and I aren’t going to play anymore!” All the girls protest and grab onto Johnny’s pant legs. “Then be nice to each other!” Emette watches on, feeling bad for being so amused by all that was taking place here. Johnny sighs. “Why don’t we just get to playing and see what happens from there?” Johnny stands at the play kitchen and pretends to make food while Emette leaves the bedroom for a second. Johnny quirks a brow, confused as to what he was doing. However, all of his questions are answered when he bursts in.

“Honey! I’m home! _Man, I’ve always wanted to say that._ ” Emette shuts the bedroom door and walks into the kitchen area. He wraps an arm around Johnny’s waist and pulls him in. “How’s my trophy wife doin’?” He asks. Johnny’s face turns beet red.

“O-Oh, um…I-I’ve been good! Just…watching the kid, ha ha…!” Janette bounces over.

“Hi, daddy!” She chimes. Emette leans down and picks her up.

“Hey, sweetie! How was school?”

“Woof!” Before she can answer, the three hear a woofing noise below them. Margaret was on her hands and knees, panting like a dog.

“Aunty Margaret turned into a dog!” Janette shouts.

“Must be black magic!” Emette jokes. Johnny turns to him with an unamused expression. Emette grins and shrugs. Of course, Janette takes this seriously.

“Oh no!” She exclaims.

“We have to find the witch who cursed Aunty Margaret!” There is a knock on the fake plastic door and Emette gets low to the ground. “I think I hear one now!” He says in a quiet tone. They all wait as the knocking continues, until the door slams open and Sally bursts in. Janette and Emette both scream in pretend fear. Johnny eventually joins in, deciding he likes the route this story was taking better than the typical, “housewife and husband,” route. Sally cackles like a witch and Janette hides behind Emette and Johnny. “I’ll protect you sugarbutt!” Emette shields Johnny, who rolls his eyes. Sally points to him.

“Pchew! I turned you into a dog!” Emette falls down dramatically.

“Aaaaah-! Avenge me, my love!” He says to Johnny, before getting back up on his hands and knees and barking. “Borf!”

“She turned daddy into a dog!” Janette yells. Johnny stands still awkwardly for a moment. He wasn’t used to fantasy type games.

“I-I guess that means we have to change them back!” Johnny remarks, hoping someone else would fill in the information needed to carry out such a plan.

“The only way to change them back is to defeat me! And you’ll never find out my true weakness! He he he he!” Sally informs. “Now, attack, my doggies!” She commands, pointing towards Janette and Johnny. Margaret and Emette growl and lunge at the two. Both of them scream and run behind the kitchen.

“What’s the witch’s weakness?!” Janette shouts to Johnny.

“I-I don’t know! Uh…” He begins to think of any possible weaknesses Sally might be thinking of. Janette grabs a stuffed animal and throws it at Emette. He pretends to attack it. Johnny then throws one at Margaret and she does the same. Both of them quickly run back to the front of the house. Sally points at Janette, however, she grabs a stuffed animal and throws it at her.

“Was that the witch’s weakness?” Johnny asks. Sally cackles.

“Nice try! Pchew!” She points at Janette again. “Now you’re a dog!” Janette gets on her hands and knees and barks.

“Bark!” Johnny searches his mind over and over for what Sally might have in mind.

“Attack!” Sally commands. Janette growls and jumps at Johnny, who dodges. He sees Emette and Margaret creeping up on him as well; growling as they go. As the three close in on him, Johnny suddenly gets an idea.

“A-ha!” He exclaims. He grabs a plastic bowl and pretends to fill it with water. He motions as if he were throwing the water at Sally. “Splash! I got you!” Sally sinks to the floor.

“Oh no! Water! My only weakness! I’m melting! I’m melting!” Janette, Margaret, and Emette all stand up and run over to Johnny, cheering. They hug him and Johnny laughs.

“How did you know her weakness?” Margaret asks.

“Easy! Sally’s favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz!” Johnny replies proudly.

“Brilliant deduction, Wifey!” Emette says, pulling Johnny in again. Johnny chuckles nervously. Suddenly, a thought hits him and he looks at Emette.

“What time is it, Emette?” The black haired boy checks his wristwatch.

“Late! I need to get going soon!” He answers. The girls whine and hug his legs.

“Don’t go, Emmy!” Janette cries.

“Don’t worry! I’ll be back! Tomorrow’s Friday, right? I can hang out this weekend, I’m sure!” Emette leans down and brings the girls in for a big hug. “I promise I’ll come back! Pinky promise.” He lets go and holds out his pinky. The girls take turns giving him pinky promises before he says goodbye and heads out to his car. The kids and Johnny all wave as he drives off. Once back inside, Johnny lets out an exhausted sigh and heads up to his room. Thankfully he didn’t have any homework that night. He lays on his bed for a moment, reflecting over the day. Especially when they were playing with the girls. Why did what Emette was saying make him feel so weird? Johnny eventually just chocks it up to him still feeling a little bit awkward being so friendly with his idol; someone who he already thought was miles above him. It wasn’t a bad feeling, after all. It was more flattering than anything. Johnny decides after a while to sleep on it, and calls it a night. He sets his alarm clock and snuggles under the covers, drifting off with ease.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all are looking forward to more of Stephen, Tyrese, and Ulysses, because there will definitely be more of them in the future! I also hope y'all are excited for the turning point of the story coming up, too. Yeah! The murder scene is almost here! That scene will officially kick off this entire series and everything will officially begin from there. Will it still be mainly lighthearted? Yeah. But don't worry, I've got plenty of angst stashed away as well! Mwahaha!  
> Anway, as always, thank you homies for reading, and I hope you'll stick around for more!


	4. Monster in the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ya dun done it now, Carmichael

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warnings:  
> Gore.
> 
> I worked my ass off on this chapter. It's almost 3am. I've been working for 6 hours (give or take a few minutes) straight. I've only gotten up once to pee and feed the cats. I've got shit to do in the morning, lol.  
> Anyway, I am VERY excited for this chapter for multiple reasons. This was by far my favorite chapter to write so far. I hope y'all enjoy it as much as I did!

Their faces are all mocking him. Looking down on him. Calling him names that should not be repeated. His eyes dart around the room. He tries to close them, but they won’t shut. He can see them all; Justin, Jacob, Cole, Stephen; everyone who has wronged him. They stare at him with judgmental eyes and watch as his face contorts into a fearful grimace. He can feel hot, stinging liquid run down his cheeks from his eyes. It feels like acid against his fair, delicate skin. He looks to the ground to see puddles of red. His hands grip his face, and when he pulls them away, he can see the blood on his palms and oozing down his fingers. He can feel himself screaming, but no sound accompanies the pressure in his throat. He can feel his stomach twist as the pressure in his throat grows, as if he were straining himself to scream louder so that he may hear his voice. His head begins to hurt and the burning blood pours down his face faster than before. The boy abruptly notices a hand caressing his cheek. It was cool and soothing. He lays his own hand on top of it. It felt familiar, but he was unsure of whose it was. Maybe his mother’s? No. Someone else’s. Another hand is laid on his left cheek and the liquid is no longer falling. He can see nothing but blackness in front of him, save for the light his own body was giving off. All he can do is feel the coldness on the sides of his face. However, before he knows it, his eyes are covered. He can feel himself slipping into some kind of sleeplike state. Was this supposed to be death? Was he dying? He wasn’t sure. All he knew is that he was going under with icy hands gripping him ever so gently; dragging him down deeper into the frigid void. For some reason, he didn’t want to resist. He felt as though this were natural; like this is how he had wanted it to be all along. He can now feel something press against his back. He feels a chin rest on top of his head. He slides his hands up to feel arms, and drops them down to feel thighs. He runs his hands along the skin he feels beneath his palms. A velvety voice hums deeply into his ear. _“This is what I want.”_ He thinks, as his breath puffs out into the freezing air. Somehow, he could tell it was fogging up and making little clouds with each warm exhale. The familiar stranger’s legs wrap around his, further pulling him in as his mind begins to dissolve into a dark nothingness. Just when his thoughts begin to sink into the abyss, his eyes are uncovered, and he sees himself hovering just above him. Although he can still feel whomever was behind him, he cannot see them with the other him. He studies his form closely, to see scars beginning to form; covering his face and neck and hands. As the other him’s eyes begin to turn black, he opens his mouth and screams.

 

Johnny sits bolt upright in bed. His heart was racing and he can feel the sweat pouring from his face as his alarm clock shrieks at him on his bedside table. Johnny shuts it off with a trembling hand as his mind begins to adjust back into reality. He waits to catch his breath before he flips over the covers and gets out of bed. He suddenly remembers that he hadn’t taken a shower last night. He takes a deep breath to steady his nerves before he enters his bathroom. He turns on the lights and closely examines his reflection. No scars or blood. His eyes were still white and blue. Nothing was amiss. Thank God. Johnny undresses, once again observing his form in the mirror. Although he thought his pudgy middle and stretch marks unsavory, he could see nothing out of the ordinary. Perhaps that mole he hadn’t noticed until now, but that was no call for concern. When the boy turns on the shower and climbs in, he looks down to make sure there was no blood running with the water. Once again, nothing out of the ordinary. He laughs at himself. He felt as though he were in a horror movie, where, when he least expects it, something from his dream would jump out at him and eat him. Or something like that. He tries his best to get his mind off of the disturbing scenery. He wonders what he could have possibly watched that would make his brain create such horrid imagery. Maybe he should lay off on all the violent cartoons? He makes sure to keep the shower short in order to save water. He climbs out and ruffles his hair dry with a towel. He draws a smiley face on the fogged up mirror before wiping it clear to gaze at his silly looking hair. He chuckles a bit and makes some funny faces to help get his mind off of the nightmare. His chuckle turns into a laugh and he picks up his brush, finally deciding to get control of his wild hair. After his hair, he brushes his teeth; also something he usually did at night as opposed to in the morning. He knew breakfast wouldn’t taste too good with the lingering taste of toothpaste sitting on the back of his tongue. However, he hated going days without brushing his teeth. After throwing some clothes on, he rushes downstairs to see his sisters actually calmly watching TV together for a change.

 _“Huh.”_ Johnny thinks. _“Guess mom figured out how to settle their arguments.”_ Johnny sits down at the table and begins eating his cereal, watching MTV just like Margaret wanted. He was glad that they remembered to take turns.

“Morning, sleepy head!” Martha says as she carries a basket of dirty laundry from the girls’ room.

“Morning.” Johnny mumbles through a mouthful of food.

“You were a little late to stop the girls from arguing, so I decided I might as well give you a break and do it myself.”

“Well, I appreciate your generosity.” Johnny laughs.

“You’d better hurry on up and eat. The bus comes to pick the girls up soon.” Johnny nods and downs his pills before standing up and grabbing his backpack. He swings it around his shoulders and waits by the door. He gazes at the TV and sings along to a familiar song. Margaret was singing along as well, and the two begin a louder duet with each other. Only when Johnny hears the screech and huff of a school bus does he stop his singing.

“Alright, time to get going!” Johnny says. The girls all groan, but get their book bags on and head out nonetheless; but not before Johnny kisses them goodbye. After enduring another kiss from his mother, Johnny leaves as well. As he walks, a car slows down and rolls down their window. “Hey, Little Buddy!” Tyrese chirps.

“Hey!”

“Want a lift?” Johnny thinks it over for a second before shrugging and climbing into the backseat. He clicks his seatbelt on and looks over to the large man sitting next to him. Ulysses gives him a friendly smile and Johnny returns one.

“Everybody strapped in?” Tyrese asks.

“Yep!” Ulysses and Johnny reply simultaneously.

“Rad.” Tyrese puts the car into drive and begins on his way to school. Everyone is silent for a moment before Tyrese begins speaking again. “So. Practice yesterday. Wow! Right?” He laughs. Johnny and Ulysses both reply with short, nervous laughter.

“Yeah. No kidding.” Ulysses remarks. “Stephen was nuts.”

“Did you end up talking to him last night?” Tyrese asks. Ulysses nods.

“Yeah. Same old stuff’s been going on with him. But I think he’s starting to crack under all the pressure. You know how stressed he gets.”

“Heh, yeah. I just wish he’d talk about it more. He keeps everything all bottled up, no wonder he gets so pissy. You’re the only one he’ll ever talk about anything with.” Johnny listens to their conversation with a bewildered expression.

“Wait, Stephen actually talks to you?” He asks Ulysses, who rubs the back of his neck.

“Well…a little. He talks to me more than anyone else, I think. Most things he just keeps bottled up until he eventually explodes. Stephen and I go back pretty far, so there’s a lot of trust between us. I guess that’s why he can talk to me so easily, ha ha.” Johnny hangs his head for a moment.

“When you say that the same old stuff is going with him, what do you mean by that?” He looks up to the taller boy, who averts his eyes uneasily.

“Um…well…”

“Basically, he’s overworked and stays up til like, four am studying or doing homework.” Tyrese informs.

“Overworked? Where does he work?” Johnny asks.

“He works on his parents’ farm. But he does all the work himself. No one ever helps him do anything. So, he has to bring in the crops, take care of the animals, and do whatever else people who own farms do with no assistance. And he’s got loads of schoolwork on top of that.” Ulysses replies.

“Really? His dad can’t even help him?”

“Well, he can, he’s just a…um…”

“Lazy asshole.” Tyrese says, finishing Ulysses’ sentence for him.

“Uh, yeah. That. And since he works on the farm most of the time, he hardly has any time to properly socialize. So, he misses out on a lot of opportunities to build trust between himself and others.” Johnny nods as his heart swells with a feeling of sadness for the man.

“I kind of wish there were a way I could help the guy out. Then maybe he wouldn’t be so mean to me.” Tyrese and Ulysses exchange heartbroken looks.

“Well…maybe try to find a common interest between the two of you one of these days.” Ulysses suggests. Johnny nods.

“Yeah, that might work. Don’t know how I’d start up a conversation with him, though.”

“Well, don’t worry about it right now. Right now just focus on building your relationships with people who you can actually talk to, then concern yourself with Stephen later.”

“Alright. I can do that.” Johnny smiles at Ulysses, who blushes at the boy’s cute face and smiles back.

 

“Well, we’re here!” Tyrese says as he puts his car in park and undoes his seatbelt. The two other boys in the car do the same and climb out. Tyrese then locks his car and the three head inside. “Hey, if you wanna come with me when I say hello to Stephen, you can, Johnny.” Tyrese offers.

“Uh…” Johnny considers it for a moment. Did he really want to risk being yelled at? “Sure.” He figured he might as well. Just in case something did go right. Tyrese motions for him to follow, and both he and Ulysses do as instructed. It isn’t long until they spot Stephen’s unmistakable features as he leans up against a wall. He looked tired and dragged down. _“Maybe he’ll be mellower since he’s so tired?”_ Johnny thinks to himself.

“Hey, Pony Boy!” Tyrese greets with a grin. Stephen huffs, but replies with a calm,

“Hey.” Johnny watches from behind Ulysses, but eventually gathers the courage to step out and face Stephen “like a man.” The redneck’s eyes soon lock with Johnny’s, and the blonde boy coyly smiles at him. Confused, Stephen keeps staring at him with a raised brow. Johnny hadn’t smiled at him like that since the day they first met. And even then that smile was wiped away pretty quickly by his sour attitude.

“H-Hey, Stephen!” Johnny chimes. Stephen’s eyebrows furrow. He replies with a slight wave of his hand, choosing not to look at the boy anymore. It was good enough for Johnny, who beams at the reaction. He gazes up at Ulysses with an excited expression. The beam turns out to be contagious, as Ulysses soon finds himself grinning with joy as well; cheeks pink just like Johnny’s. He was so cute when he was excited.

“How late did you stay up last night?” Tyrese asks the hick. Stephen tries to recollect all the events of that night with his weary brain. He slides a hand down his face and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Last time I checked…I think it was…six-somethin’…” He replies with a stressed tone in his voice. Tyrese furrows his brow into a worried expression.

“That late? What were you doing?”

“Ah…I had work fer Mr. Harrison’s class. You know chemistry is my worst subject.” Stephen replies. Needless to say, Johnny was surprised by how calmly Stephen was communicating with Tyrese. He expected him to be barking at him for prying too much. Instead, he was peacefully explaining his predicament. Tyrese nods.

“Yeah, I know. He gives out a lot of work, too.”

“Yeah. No fuckin’ kiddin’.” Stephen looked as though he were dozing off. His eyelids were beginning to fall shut, and he was teetering over every now and then. Tyrese gives the boy a sympathetic smile and gently places a hand on his shoulder. Stephen’s eyes immediately snap open and he shoves the taller boy’s large arm away. Tyrese shrinks back, before humming a short laugh. He should’ve expected Stephen to react in such a way. Stephen’s annoyed expression doesn’t last long, as he’s soon back to fighting to keep his eyes open. The three boys notice this, and Ulysses steps forward.

“Uh, Stephen. Do you need to sit down for a second?” He queries with concern heavy in his voice. Stephen lazily shakes his head.

“I don’t needa…sit down…I’m fine.” The hick replies as he begins to lean over.

“Stephen.” Ulysses says, trying to get the man’s attention so that he doesn’t fall over. Stephen catches himself and regains his balance.

“Huh? Whaddya want?” Ulysses and Tyrese both exchange worried looks.

“How much sleep did you get Thursday night?” Tyrese asks. Stephen groans as he tries to recall.

“Nnn…not much…”

“And Wednesday?”

“…’Bout the same…” Ulysses walks over to Stephen and softly touches his shoulder. The boy flinches, but does nothing more as soon as he looks up to see Ulysses’ face.

“I really think you need to rest some.” The taller boy suggest. Stephen scowls.

“Bullshit…! I don’t needa sleep none…!” The ginger claims in a raised voice that wasn’t quite energetic enough to be shouting. Ulysses tries to reason with the man as Johnny and Tyrese gaze on. The two glance at each other, both seeming to be thinking the same thing.

 _“This is sad.”_ Johnny definitely felt bad for him now. He knew that Stephen hadn’t gotten any proper sleep all week. And now he was beginning to deteriorate. More so than Johnny expected, as Stephen’s voice begins to get softer until he is no longer speaking and his eyelids flutter shut. His body then begins to fall sideways.

“Stephen!” Ulysses shouts. He manages to catch the boy’s body before it hits the ground. People were stopping to stare at them now, and Johnny could feel his anxiety beginning to build up. The bell suddenly rings and most of the gaping students begin to move along to class. A few come up and offer to help as Ulysses picks the ginger up bridal style and begins to carry him. He politely turns them all down. He stops briefly to talk to Johnny and Tyrese, who were equally as worried as he was. “I’m going to take Stephen to the front office to see if they’ll let him sleep somewhere for a little while.” He says. The two boys nod and Ulysses walks away. Johnny and Tyrese watch him for a while before they decide to head on to class. They walk beside each other and share their words of apprehension for the hick.

“I had no idea it was that bad.” Johnny remarks.

“Yeah. He’s usually fine on Monday, but gradually gets worse and worse throughout the week. I’ve never seen him pass out like that.”

“Do you think he’ll be okay?”

“I don’t know. Probably. He just needs to get some sleep.” The dark skinned boy assures. Johnny nods.

“Hopefully after this, he’ll feel a little better.”

“Yeah, hopefully. I wouldn’t worry too much about Stephen, though. He’s mad tough!" Tyrese says. Johnny laughs.

“Really? How tough?”

“Remember tenth grade year, when he came to school with a broken finger?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, he was fixing his fence, when he accidentally smashed it with a hammer!”

“Ouch!”

“Yeah! But all he said was, ‘Goddammit! Not again!’ and calmly went to go tell his dad.”

“That’s what happened? I thought he broke it when he punched somebody.”

“Nah, that was just a nasty rumor people started passing around. I only knew what really happened because I was there, ha ha!” Tyrese says with a chuckle. “Ulysses can back me up, too. He was also there.”

“Wow. You guys must be pretty close to Stephen.”

“Eh, we’re close enough. Ulysses more so than me. Stephen likes him more because he doesn’t tease him like I do.”

“Stephen doesn’t seem to like being teased.”

“He’s okay with some forms of teasing. It’s kind of hard to tell what’ll set him off and what won’t, though.” Tyrese informs.

“I bet it’s easier once you get to know him.” Johnny assumes. The dark skinned boy shrugs.

“Maybe. I don’t know. Ulysses is the Stephen expert as of right now.”

“Maybe I’ll ask him sometime.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me! I’ll catch ya later, Little Buddy!” Tyrese waves goodbye. Johnny returns a wave.

“Alright! See ya!”

After the two part ways and Johnny arrives at his first period class, he begins to tell Emette what happened. “Really?” Emette starts laughing. “Ha ha ha! He just passed out?”

“Uh, well…yeah, he was really tire-…”

“That’s great! Ha ha ha ha!” Johnny can feel himself getting a little miffed at the other’s insensitive reaction to the story.

“Just…don’t tell Stephen I told you anything. He might get mad at me.” The blonde one says. Emette simmers down and wipes the tears from his eyes, taking in a deep breath.

“Phew! Ah, don’t worry, Kid! I won’t mention anything about it!”

“Promise?”

“Pinky promise!” Emette holds out his pinky and Johnny snickers, wrapping his finger around his. The students in the class give each other weird looks. Some finding it amusing, others thinking it was downright strange. After the promise, the two boys sit down and begin taking notes. Johnny was mildly distracted, however, as he thinks of how he could possibly manage to befriend someone who seemingly hated his guts. He stares at his paper, lost in thought. By the time class was over, he notices that he had barely written down anything on the board.

“Oh man…” He mumbles to himself. Oh well. Maybe he could get the notes from Emette over the weekend?

 

Stephen’s eyes slowly open and he groans as his blurry vision adjusts to his surroundings. It takes him a while before he realizes where he is and what he was doing. He shoots upright and looks around the neatly furnished office area. The distant ringing sound of a telephone hums in his ears as he stares at the empty desk where a name plaque reading, “Mrs. Peterson,” sits. Stephen feels the smooth leather of the chair he was laying in. The chair was too short for his long body, so his legs dangle off the right arm of the seat. He swings them in front of himself and sits in the chair normally. His thoughts begin to collect and he remembers what happened that morning. He snarls. _“Fuckin’ bohunk.”_ He thinks to himself. He knew Ulysses wanted the best for him, but that pissed him off. Why should he concern himself with someone like him? The hick eventually decides to stand up and wait at Mrs. Peterson’s desk. He picks up his book bag and swings it over his shoulders. He sighs as he continues to observe the office. He didn’t come up here often, so he hadn’t quite seen everything. It was nothing too special. The office was definitely decent sized and cozy. However, nothing remarkable stood out to him. Just a few desks, chairs, shelves, a door, and some telephones. The waiting area had a couple nice, brown leather couches and a glass coffee table. He could hear the ticking of a clock, but couldn’t find out where the noise was coming from. While he looks around for the clock, Mrs. Peterson walks back in and sits down at her desk.

“So I see you’re awake.” She says, adjusting her glasses as she takes a seat. Stephen looks down to the woman and nods.

“How long was I out fer?”

“Quite a long time. You came in around eight this morning and you’ve been asleep ever since.”

“What time is it?” Mrs. Peterson looks at her watch.

“One fifty-two.” Stephen’s eyes shoot wide open and he can swear he feels his heart stop beating for a moment.

“One fifty-two?! I’ve been asleep fer five hours?!” He exclaims in panic.

“No shouting in my office, Mr. Biggs. But yes, you’ve been asleep since first period. It’s fifth period now. I’ll write you a pass so that your teacher knows where you were.” Mrs. Peterson opens her desk drawer and pulls out a pad of sticky notes. She retrieves a pen from a cup sitting on her desk and begins to write the details down. Meanwhile, Stephen feels a mixture of rage and anxiety thinking about all of the information he missed out on while he was out. He would have to drop by each teacher’s room to get any assignments that he missed and do everything over the weekend. He curses no one in particular. He wasn’t sure who was more to blame here; himself, God, Ulysses, his parents, or his teachers. Either way he was pissed and hated everything and everyone at that moment. Mrs. Peterson hands him the pass and he thanks her as he exits her office. He walks down the hall briskly so that he doesn’t miss more class than he already has. He knew fifth period was almost over, so he makes haste to his classroom and huffs as he walks in. The other students glance at him, but dare not stare for too long. Stephen hands his pass to his teacher and she looks it over before nodding.

“I do hope you’re okay, though, Stephen.” The woman says. She had a British accent and a delicate voice. Definitely one that wasn’t grating or bothersome.

“Yeah, I’m aight Ms. Serelli.” The redneck replies, lying through his teeth.

“That’s good. I was beginning to get worried about you. You never miss class. Do you mind if I ask what happened?” Ms. Serelli asks. Stephen avoids eye contact with her. He didn’t want to tell her because he knew she’d get even more concerned about it.

“It was some…personal stuff. Nothin’ to be worried over.” He replies.

“Alright, then.” The bell then rings and all the students rise from their seats and exit the classroom. Stephen turns to leave as well. “Take care, Stephen.” Ms. Serelli calls out to the boy. Stephen turns to her briefly and nods, before continuing on his way.

 

The day eventually ends and Johnny delightfully bounds out to the parking lot with Emette casually strolling behind him. “We should both hang out there some day! I think you’d like it!” Johnny continues a conversation they were having previously.

“Careful, Kid! Don’t get hit by any cars!” Emette warns. Johnny looks around him and laughs.

“No one’s driving! Don’t worry!” Johnny reaches the silver convertible and hops in without even opening the door. Emette chuckles and unlocks his door before sliding in and fastening his seatbelt.

“You’re a noid.” Emette says affectionately. Johnny giggles.

“But you wouldn’t like me if I weren’t a noid!”

“Hm. You’re probably right.” Emette reaches over and ruffles the boy’s hair, warranting another giggle. “You’re the noidiest noid in all of noidsville!”

“Ha ha ha! Hey!” Emette stops and fixes Johnny’s hair before starting the car up and exiting the parking lot.

“You headed to the library tonight, Kid?” Emette asks. Johnny hums in thought.

“Nah. I usually go on Saturday nights. Sometimes I go on Fridays, but normally I’m too tired after school, ha ha!”

“Yeah, I can understand that. I usually don’t do anything major on Friday nights, either. Unless I have to, of course.” Emette says. Johnny leans back into the seat and stares up at the clouds that hovered over his humble little town on the outskirts of the big city. Today was a strange day. But he knew that the weekend was going to be fun, since Emette promised he’d be coming over. A smile stretches the boy’s cheeks at the thought of it. He didn’t think he’d ever believe what had been happening to him for the past few days. He was still in awe by the whole situation. Everything was perfect, and he couldn’t be any happier. Emette looks over to the boy and notices the grin on his face. “Thinkin’ about something good, Kid?” He asks. Johnny snaps out of his stupor and looks back to Emette.

“Oh! I’m just really happy, is all.” He admits.

“Anything in particular ticklin’ ya?”

“Ha ha, well…I guess I’m just excited about finally having someone to hang out with! I haven’t had any close friends since junior high, but now I’ve got you! And Tyrese and Ulysses. But you’re who I’m closest to right now!” Johnny chirps. Emette chuckles.

“Well, I’m glad I get to hang out with you, too, Kid. Honestly, I don’t have that many close friends, either.”

"You don’t? How? You’re like, one of the most popular people in school!”

“Ha ha, well…popularity doesn’t exactly mean ‘friends with everyone.’ I mainly only have a handful of good friends and a lot of distant acquaintances. Not counting all the Betty Annes and dudes who wanna ride my dick all the time, ha ha! They mainly just stick around for one reason and one reason only.” Johnny nods and chuckles. Emette’s wording was making him feel a little bit uncomfortable, however. The blonde one remains silent for a little while. He can feel paranoia begin to set in as a question crosses his mind.

“Say, Emette. We are friends, right? Like…you really do enjoy hanging out with me?”

“Of course! I wouldn’t be offering to come over if I **didn’t** like hanging out with you! You’re really fun to be around, Kid!” Emette assures. Johnny beams and blushes brightly. “Trust me, I would’ve never said yes when you asked to come over that one time if I didn’t want to be around you.”

“I’m so glad! Sorry, I just always get this creeping thought that I’m annoying people. I have to make sure.”

“Nah. You’re not annoying! You’d know if you were annoying me.” Emette says as they pull into Johnny’s driveway. Johnny grabs his backpack and hops out. “Tell the girls and your mom I said hey for me, Kid. I can’t stick around, I’ve got stuff I need to do at home.”

“Alright, I will! See ya, man!”

“Later!” Johnny watches as Emette drives off before turning to enter his house. He was still smiling when he walks inside and his mom takes notice.

“Have another good day today, sweetie?” She asks.

“Yep! Great day!” Johnny replies, as he sets he book bag down next to the bottom of the stairs.

“That’s good! Did Emette drive you home again?”

“Yeah! He wanted me to tell you hey for him. So…” Johnny sticks his hands in his pockets and puts on a cool face, “hey…” he says in the deepest voice he can manage. He and his mom both laugh. Just then, the girls come running in.

“Johnny! Where’s Emmy?” Janette asks.

“He couldn’t stay today, but he told me to tell you he says hey!”

“Aww…I wanted him to play!” Janette whines.

“Don’t worry! He’ll be over tomorrow.”

“I don’t know if I can wait that long…”

“Sure you can! He’s busy tonight, so that’s why he won’t be able to come over.”

“Okay, then. He’d better be over tomorrow, though!” Janette pouts. Johnny snickers.

“Or what’re you gonna do about it? Tickle him to death?”

“If he doesn’t come over, I will!”

“Not if I tickle you to death first!” Johnny dives in and swoops the girl up, beginning to tickle at her sides. She bursts into laughter and squirms in his grasp. She eventually manages to wiggle away and runs to the other side of the house. Johnny follows and she bolts away, laughing as she goes. He chases her around the house for a while until he runs out of breath. “Phew! Alright, Janette. I think I need to go take a nap.” He pants.

“Aww…okay.” The girl says, feeling a little disappointed.

“I’ll be back in a little while, though. Don’t worry!” Johnny says, before he heads up to his room. He flops down on his bed and sighs, taking a moment to reflect on the day. He gets to thinking about Stephen again. He dwells on interests the two of them might share. The thoughts eventually begin to wear on him, and before long, he snuggles under his covers and begins to doze off.

 

When Johnny wakes up, he glances around and realizes his room was pitch dark. Shocked, he quickly fumbles to turn the lamp on and look at his clock. 7:29. “Geez…” Johnny says to himself, as he rises from his bed. He contorts into a big stretch and yawns as he exits his room. He sees the family downstairs eating dinner. His mother and sisters and Clyde were all at the table eating spaghetti. Johnny loved spaghetti, so he wastes no time climbing down the stairs and into the dining area. He sits down and immediately begins to eat.

“That was quite a long nap you took, Johnathon.” Martha observes. Johnny nods and swallows a big bite of food.

“Yeah, well…school kind of wore me out today, ha ha.”

“What happened that was so tiring?”

“We had a few tests today. Plus, I think I’m not used to all the social interaction I’m getting.” Johnny laughs and takes another bite of his food.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that you’re making friends, honey!” Martha coos. Clyde takes a chance and smiles at Johnny.

“I heard from your mother that you and Emette are getting along really well.” He says. Johnny avoids eye contact with the man.

“Yeah…wasn’t that kind of obvious when he came over yesterday?”

“Oh. Well, yes…I guess you’re right. Silly me.” Clyde twirls his fork in the spaghetti, collecting as many noodles as possible before taking a huge bite. Martha gives Johnny a peeved look, but the boy doesn’t say anything. Instead, he continues to shove spaghetti into his mouth to avoid having to talk to anyone. This leads to him finishing his food before everyone else. He wipes his face clean and sits quietly with his hands folded in his lap for a second.

“Johnathon, you really need to be nicer to Clyde.” Martha says.

“It’s okay, Sugar, don’t worry.” Clyde dismisses.

“No it’s not! He needs to be more respectful to you!”

“Martha, just give him some more time.”

“Some more time to what? Disrespect you?” Johnny grits his teeth. He hated when his parents argued over him. It was always his fault whenever they’d argue. At least, that’s how he saw it. Finally, as Janette and Sally begin crying, he can no longer take it. He slams his hands on the table and everyone goes silent. They all look up at him, and he scowls.

“I’m going to the library…” He mumbles. No one says a word to him as he throws on his jacket, slips into his shoes, and slams the front door behind him. Johnny digs in his jacket pocket and retrieves a keychain that had a flashlight on it. He presses it a few times to make sure it still works before discarding it once again. The walk to the library from his house could be a little long. It was maybe a 25 minute walk. But he could care less. All he wanted to do right now, was get his mind off of Clyde. He hated Clyde. He wanted him out of his life for good.

 

_(Gore in this paragraph)_

Johnny sighs and closes the dusty old book. He looks up at the big clock that sat over the door of the library. 9:40. He had been there for a while. He stands up and pushes his chair in, walking back over to the fiction section to find where he had taken this book from. He eventually finds the spot and slides it back in place. The boy stretches his back out and decides to start making his way back home. He had had his fill of indulging his mind in gruesome horror novels. He says a quiet goodbye to the librarian before heading out onto the sidewalk. The bright lights from the shop windows leaned down and touched the cold pavement, spreading their splendor and illuminating the way back home. However, this time, Johnny decides to cross the street early, instead of waiting until he got to the end of the sidewalk. He figured it might be a little more convenient to go ahead and cross. Even if that side if the street was creepy and scarcely lit. He looks both ways a couple times, then cautiously ventures to the other side of the road. He feels a chill of wind rattle his spine as he slowly makes his way down the sidewalk. Most everything on that side of the road past the sidewalk was woods. The woods looked absolutely terrifying at night. The treetops stretched out like jagged veins against the black night sky. The sounds of cracking leaves and twigs underfoot of wild beasts buzzed in the boy’s ears as he passed. Every falling acorn made his heart leap, for fear that it may be something more than just that. The fact that no one ever walked down this sidewalk only added to the fear. And at this time of night, not many cars were out and about either. Therefore, if something from the darkest depths of Johnny’s nightmares were to jump out of those woods, there would be no help coming his way. The boy suddenly sees the light of two headlights flooding past his shadow. He hears the gentle purring of an engine along with the sound of three familiar voices, all mentioning his name. “No fuckin' way.” Justin’s voice rings out in Johnny’s ears, and he swiftly jerks himself around to look at him. “Johnny fuckin’ Carmichael. Never thought I’d be seeing you out here this late at night! Whatcha up to, Johnmeister? You on a midnight stroll?”

“I-It’s not even m-midnight yet…” Johnny stutters the only thing he could think to say.

“Don’t get smart with me, wise guy. You’re lookin’ awfully tired, Carmichael. You wanna lift?” Justin asks. Johnny can hear the malicious grin in his voice.

“N-No thanks…my house isn’t t-too far away from here.”

“Nonsense! I insist!” The clique begins to walk towards the boy. The headlights were blinding Johnny, making it nearly impossible to see the silhouettes of the three boys.

“S-Stay away from me!” Johnny shouts.

“What did he just say?” Justin asks his two friends.

“I think he just told us to come get ‘im.” Jacob answers.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought he said. Cole, get back in the car and drive up a little ways, why don’t ya?” Cole nods and slips back into the car. Meanwhile, Justin and Jacob continue to stalk up to Johnny, who could feel cold sweat beginning to collect on his skin. He sees Cole creep up right next to him. Johnny decides he’s had enough, and bolts, however, Cole yanks the car forward and swerves onto the sidewalk, blocking Johnny’s only easy escape. Justin and Jacob charge Johnny, and he desperately searches for possible escape routes. He spots the creepy old abandoned house not too far up the hill and through the woods. Without hesitation, Johnny sprints into the woods, climbing up the gigantic hill with his heart in his throat. Jacob and Justin pause for a moment.

“Sonnuva bitch!” Jacob curses. “Do we follow ‘im?”

“Hell yeah we do! I ain’t lettin’ that little runt get away that easily. Cole!” He shouts to the man in the car. “Get the flashlights!” Johnny makes it all the way up to the house and yanks the decaying door open, shutting it hard behind him. Panting hard, he shakily retrieves his keychain flashlight and begins looking around the musty house. His body trembles with utter fear and he can hear his heart beat like a pounding drum in his head. He searches the house, each creak of the floorboard making him jump in fright. As Johnny goes along, he notices something. Near the kitchen area of the house, there was something under a loose floorboard. He ventures over. It was barely noticeable, but it was a very tiny knob. Johnny carefully grabs it with a clammy hand. He pulls it up, and underneath sees staircases. He shines his light a little further down, and decides that whatever might be down there is much safer than what was up here. He ever so slowly enters and sneaks down the staircase. As he descends, he suddenly notices a faint light was cast upon the ground. More curious than afraid, Johnny creeps around the staircase and looks up ahead. There was a bright light shining around a corner. He hears quiet voices and decides, against his better judgement, to follow the sounds. As he approaches the corner, he can make out the sound of crying and muffled screaming. This was something straight out of a horror story. He decides to turn around. However, the sound of the front door of the house slamming shut causes Johnny’s fight or flight response to yank him forward, and he charges around the corner and into the room. The sick smell of iron is the first thing to hit him when he enters the room. The second is the scene. A look of utter terror envelopes the boy’s countenance as he falls on his back, his legs giving out on him. He gazes with mortified eyes at the tall figure that was now looking dead at him. Johnny looks past the monster to see his work. Chained to the wall was a naked man. His mouth was gagged with a blood soaked cloth, and his belly was sliced open. Dark red liquid pooled on the ground underneath the man and Johnny could see his entrails glistening as the light from a single bulb shown off them from above. The boy looks back down to the monster’s face. He had a mask over his mouth and a baseball cap on his head. His eyes were barely visible behind short strands of black hair that hung in his face. However, Johnny fixates on those dark brown and white spheres. Even though all his thoughts are racing and his heartbeat was set to match, one particular thought comes to mind. But Johnny is too shocked to speak then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers//  
> /  
> /  
> Now you see why I was so excited? Anyway, now this story has officially gotten started! Or the main storyline, at least. This story was obviously already started a while ago, lol. But yes, be prepared for more blood and guts from here on out! Also, be prepared for more Stephen Biggs! I hope y'all'll stick around fer more! Thanks homies, for reading!


	5. Mercy is a Gentleman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream(urder).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings:  
> Rape mention, CSA mention.
> 
> I hate to post such a short chapter, but I realized after finishing the last paragraph, that I probably should've made this all part of chapter 4 instead of splitting it up, lol. I was too quick to post chapter 4, basically, so that's why chapter 5 is so short. But, I already started on chapter 6, which will hopefully be much longer. So that's the good news. Bad news is that my busy day-to-day life might just keep me from writing too much right now. I'll definitely do what I can when I can, though. Anyway, enjoy chapter 5!

_(Rape and CSA mentions in this paragraph)_

The man sighs and speaks in a voice that was unmistakably exactly who Johnny was imagining, “Come on now, Kid. I really liked you.” He turns around all the way to face the boy. That’s when Johnny notices the machete in his hand. His breath catches in his throat and he shudders on the ground. He manages to scoot back with his hands as Emette grows closer.

“N-No! Emette!” Johnny cries.

“Sorry, Kid. But I can’t risk being caught.”

“Emette please! I-I promise I won’t tell anyone! I swear on my life!” Johnny desperately tries to reason with his best friend, now turned killer. “Please, Emette, I have so much to live for! I don’t wanna die!” Tears begin to stream down his face.

“I really am sorry. Just hold still and cooperate and I promise this won’t hurt a bit.” Emette begins to pick up the pace as he walks towards Johnny. The boy whimpers and stumbles as he bolts away. “The harder you make this, the more likely it is to hurt.” Johnny doesn’t listen, instead, he rushes behind a table where various instruments of torture sat. Emette furrows his brow. He was beginning to get annoyed with the boy’s refusal to cooperate. Johnny then remembers that Justin, Jacob, and Cole were upstairs.

“Help! Help me!” He screams as loud as he can.

“These walls are made out of solid concrete, Kid. No one can hear you. _Especially since there’s no one in the house._ ” Emette informs. Johnny bawls, his voice now softer than before.

“Please, Emette. I have three little sister who n-need me. I-I wanna see them grow u-up. I wanna get a job and live a happy life. I-I wanna be friends with you. I-I don’t c-care if you’re a murderer. Please. Just let me live and I won’t tell a soul.” He softly sobs into his hands and Emette watches him with a leather covered hand on his hip, the other one gripping the machete with a much more loosened hold than before. The black haired boy sighs, thinking over everything Johnny had said to him. He knew Johnny looked up to him and treasured their friendship. He knew Johnny wasn’t a liar and had a feeling he could keep his promises. And he knew that he did, in fact, have three little sisters and a bright future ahead of him. Despite being reluctant to comply, he calls out to the quivering, sniveling boy who was clinging onto the table for dear life.

“Alright, Kid. I’ll let you live. But you **have** to keep your promise. Cause I swear to God, I will not hesitate to end your life if I find out you snitched, you understand me?” Johnny frantically nods, accidentally hitting his head on the bottom of the table. He was too shaken to care, however.

“Y-Yes! I understand! I promise!” There is a long pause as the two remain in their places. There is no sound, save for the agonized moaning of the chained up man.

“Well…” Emette begins with a slightly annoyed tone, “You can come out now.” Johnny was understandably hesitant. He wasn’t sure if he could trust Emette or not, due to the circumstances. However, against his better judgement, he slowly slides out from behind the table. His body was quaking with fright as he stands beside the wooden table. Emette examines the dread in the blonde one’s face and tosses his machete back over where the man was. He removes his leather gloves and shoves them in the pocket of his leather jacket. “Come’ere.” He requests. Johnny stares at him for a moment, before cautiously stepping forward. “That’s it. There ya go.” The dark skinned boy encourages. Johnny eventually stops when he was close enough for the other man to touch him. Emette gently sets his cold hands on the boy’s cheek and wipes away his tears. Johnny looks into his eyes, still terribly shaken. He hiccups and begins to softly cry again. “Shhh…it’s okay. It’s alright.” Emette’s gentle voice begins to slowly but surely relax the boy a little bit. He places his own hands over Emette’s and sniffles as his tears eventually dry. “Why are you here?” Emette asks.

“J-Justin…J-Jac…ob…a-and…Cole…ch-chased me…i-in…here…” Johnny stutters. Emette nods.

“So, you’re hiding?”

“Mhm…”

“Alright, then. Let’s get you back home.” Emette removes his hat, jacket, and mask and sets them on the table. He then removes his bloody jeans and places them over his other clothes. He then goes to a corner in the room where a pair of clean pants sits and puts them on. He wanders back over to Johnny, who was trying his best not to look at the groaning man. The smell of blood was making him nauseous and dizzy. He follows Emette back up the stairs, where Emette cracks open the hatch ever so slightly to take a listen. He hears creaking floorboards and voices, as the three bullies walk around inside the house.

“I’m tellin’ ya! He must’ve gone out the back door or something!” Jacob calls out.

“There ain’t no back door! What about the kitchen?” Cole asks.

“I already checked the kitchen!”

“Didya check upstairs?”

“Justin did!” Jacob shouts. Justin stomps back down the decrepit old steps and lets out an exasperated sigh.

“He’s not in here.”

“Well, where else could he’ve gone?!” Jacob yells.

“I dunno! All I know is I’m tired of lookin’ for that little shit!”

“Should we leave?”

“Yeah. Wherever he is, he’s probably dead, or somethin’.”

“That’s a shame, I had fun fuckin’ with ‘im.” Jacob says.

“Me too.” Justin agrees. "Well, there’s no in use hangin’ around this old place anymore. Let’s bounce!” All the boys agree and flood out of the door, slamming it shut behind them.

“I-Is the coast clear?” Johnny whispers.

“Yeah. Let’s go.” Emette replies. The two boys climb out and gently shut the hatch behind them. Emette looks out the moldy window and watches the pair of headlights drive away. He takes Johnny’s hand and begins walking in the dark. “They were wrong about this place not having a back door.” He remarks, and he pushes something aside. Johnny couldn’t make out what it was in the dark. If he could take a wild guess, it was probably a shelf, due to the loud, deep scraping noise it made as it was nudged across the floor. Pushing it aside revealed the windowpane of a back door. Emette turns a knob and has to give the door a few harsh shoves before it will open. He then leads the boy outside, where he then begins to lead him down the side of the hill. Johnny could see the man’s car parked in a spot behind some trees and brush, where it would be hidden from the road.

“How come you could see through the house?” He asks.

“I couldn’t. I’ve just navigated that place so many time that I know where everything is.” Emette laughs. Johnny wanted to laugh along, but he couldn’t. All he could think about is the traumatizing event that he had just witnessed.

Emette starts up the engine and swerves the car around. Both of the boys are silent as he drives. Johnny had so many questions on his mind at that moment. He decides to ask them one at a time.

“Who was that man?” He asks in a small voice.

“His name was Derek Billards. He was a child molester who raped his six year old daughter.” Emette replies, a hint if disgust in his voice.

“Really? Is that why you killed him?”

“Yep! Bastard got off easy. Only got a few months in jail. Usually child molesters, rapists, and abusers get off easy, unfortunately. Makes it easier for me to give them the grueling torture they deserve, though.” Emette cracks a devious smile at the thought of torturing his victims. Johnny notices and curls up into himself.

“So…are abusers, rapists, and child molesters the only people you kill?”

“Yep! Unless someone just so happens to witness a murder. Then I have to kill them, too, unfortunately. Thankfully, though, I’ve only had to do that a couple times.”

“You make it sound so easy…” Johnny mumbles. Emette looks over to see Johnny balled up and reaches over to pat his back.

“Don’t worry, though, Kid. I won’t be killing you anytime soon. You’re too important to me for me to do that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! Why do you think I hesitated back there?” Johnny relaxes himself, but still gazes out at the nearly empty streets in a daze. Just thinking about how he almost died was making him appreciate life more. He feels relieved and almost happy in a way. However, he keeps getting flashes of that man. He knew he deserved to be tortured for what he did. But that still didn’t change that fact that it was traumatizing to look at. Emette’s voice suddenly breaks through his thoughts. “However, now that you know what I do, you **will** have to join me when I kill people.” Johnny’s heart immediately drops to his stomach and his pupils shrink. He jolts around to face Emette in shock.

“What?! Why?!”

“Well, I can’t risk having you rat me out while I’m in the act. If you rat me out when I’m not murdering, that’s one thing. But if you snitch while I am murdering somebody, then I won’t have any time to try and cover my tracks. I need you to know when I’m murdering and be there while I’m doing it so that I know you’re not telling anyone. Ya feel me?”

“Emette I can’t! I can’t handle murdering people!”

“Ah, you don’t gotta do nothing! You just have to stand there. You can sit in the corner facing the wall if you need to!” Emette explains. Johnny still begins crying nonetheless.

“Emette, I don’t have the stomach for this kind of stuff! I’ll throw up!”

“There’s a trashcan in there! You can barf or pee anytime you need to! Try not to shit yourself, though. Blood, guts, vomit, and piss are one thing, but I don’t go anywhere near that other stuff!”

“I’m being serious!”

“Me too!” Emette ruffles the boy’s hair. “It’s not that bad, Kid! I don’t kill people **that** often. I’d say once or twice a month. Maybe less. It depends on how much information on someone I can get.” Johnny could already feel himself getting sick at the thought of having to listen to the agonized screams of Emette’s victims as he slowly dissects them and yanks out their guts. Emette glances over to see the boy’s pale face. He looks at his watch. 10:49. “Hey, Kid. Why don’t we stop somewhere for a little while to help you cool out before I take you back to your place?” He suggests.

“Like where?”

“I don’t know. Where do you usually go to relax?” Johnny tries to gather his jumbled thoughts. Where **did** he go to relax?

“I…just go somewhere on the strip, usually.” The blonde one says. Emette nods.

“You wanna go to the little ice cream shop? I think they’re still open. I’ll buy you an ice cream if you want. I’ve got some cash on me.” Johnny thinks about it for a moment. Did he really want to eat something after what he had just witnessed? Would he even be able to eat something after what he had just witnessed? His judgement was severely clouded now that murder was all he could think about. Although, just sitting in a public place did sound like it would settle his nerves. Johnny eventually nods and Emette smiles, placing a hand on his back and rubbing in slow circles. Johnny was surprised that the other’s actions could still comfort him. Now that he thinks about it, he didn’t really see Emette as that different at all. If anything, in some sick, ironic way, the other’s actions only made him admire him more. Perhaps it was the intentions behind them that made them so excusable? Johnny wasn’t sure. He knew, however, that he still held on to his hopes that he and Emette would be friends long into their lives. Hopefully forever.

 

The two boys sit in the little shop that was nearly empty; save for the employee behind the counter. They were completely silent. All Johnny could hear was the quiet drone of the radio and the gentle whirring of a ceiling fan. It was cold in the little shop. Johnny’s hands were freezing and he tries to warm them up by rubbing them together. Emette notices as he drinks his milkshake and casually reaches over, taking one of the boy’s hands in his own. Johnny nearly inhales his milkshake. His face definitely wasn’t cold anymore as bright red blush spreads across his cheeks. The black haired boy chuckles at the reaction and rubs his thumb over Johnny’s palm. Johnny couldn’t believe what was happening to him right then. He never imagined in his wildest dreams that he’d be here; sitting in an empty ice cream store, sucking on a milkshake, while a friendly murderer held his hand. It was even more unbelievable that Johnny still looked up to this guy, and that the hand holding was making him feel like smiling, despite all the events of tonight. He eventually gives in, and a small smile appears on the corner of his mouth. Emette, of course, notices and smiles as well. “You’ve got a nice smile, Kid.” He says. Johnny turns his head away as his cheerful grin grows. Emette knows what he’s doing, and his smile turns slier. “Hey, now. Don’t hide it from me.” Johnny forces his lips to close around his straw and turns back to face the other. Emette quirks a brow playfully. Johnny can see the teasing hint in the other’s face and gently pulls his hand away.

“Um…it’s warm now. Thank you.” He says, placing it in his pocket. Why didn’t he think of that sooner? This night had him more messed up than he had originally thought. Emette seems disappointed by the boy’s gesture at first. However, he figures he was just feeling a little bit uneasy around him still. After all, he did just witness him cut a man open. It may take him a while to stop feeling so scared in his presence. Johnny and Emette don’t speak for the rest of the time they stay in the ice cream shop. There was nothing really to talk about. Emette didn’t want to bring up anything that might potentially be distressing to the boy, and Johnny wasn’t sure if he felt like talking to his friend at all. However, when the two get in the car, Johnny eventually decides that he wants to talk.

“If I hadn’t even gone out tonight, none of this would be happening.” He mumbles, pouting as he speaks. Emette glances over to him.

“Did…something happen?” He asks. Johnny nods, but remains silent. “Do you wanna talk about it?” The boy doesn’t reply. He only looks down at his lap and thinks over everything that had just happened once more. It’s not that he doubted he could keep a secret like this. He was just afraid of the worst case scenario; as always with him. He knew he could keep this secret because no one else but he and Emette knew about it, and it definitely wasn’t something anyone would suspect either of them to carry out. Emette is about as passive as they come, and Johnny even more so. Neither of them had any major enemies; besides maybe Justin and his gang, but neither of the boys harbored that much resentment towards them. Or, if they did, they hid it very well. And both of them were generally nice and caring people. There would be massive shock if anyone found out the boys’ secret, to say the least. Along with the fact that no one thought it possible, it just wasn’t a subject that many casually discussed, so there wasn’t much room to accidentally out a secret. Despite all these factors, Johnny was still beyond worried. If he let even the slightest thing slip, it could be the end for either him, Emette, or both of them. It was a terrifying thought, to say the least, and he could feel his blood bubbling with cold anxiety the more he dwells on it. He was past the point of crying, however. He didn’t think he had the energy anymore. He remembers Emette asking him a question. It had been a while, but he decides to answer anyway.

“My mom and Clyde started arguing because of me again.” He mutters in a monotone voice. Emette displays a confused expression.

“Who’s Clyde?”

“My stepdad.” Emette could hear a hint of resentment in his tone as he replies.

“Is he…a bad guy, or something?” He asks. Johnny scrunches up his nose.

“No…but I wish he was…”

“Why do you say that?”

“Cause now that I know about what you do…” Johnny doesn’t finish his sentence. However, it was enough for Emette to get the point. He was taken aback, to say the least. He had no idea Johnny was capable of feeling so much malice towards somebody. Especially somebody who he claimed wasn’t a bad person.

“…Do you hate him?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?” Johnny’s scowl only deepens as he thinks about the man who invaded into his life. He doesn’t speak for a moment, until his rage prevents him from keeping quiet.

“You wanna know why I hate him?!” He suddenly blurts. Emette jumps and nearly swerves off the road at the sudden outburst. “For fourteen years, I lived with my mom, my sisters, and my biological dad, but he ran off one day, and none of us knew where he went! So then, my mom decides to start dating again, and she meets this guy named Clyde. One day, she brings him over, and tells us that he’s gonna be our new dad. Or something along those lines. All I know is that as soon as she told me that, I started crying! Because you don’t just bring home some random person your kids haven’t even met yet, and tell them he’s gonna be replacing your dad! I didn’t want a new dad! I still don’t! I just want my **real** dad back! I mean, he had to have a good reason for leaving, right?!” Emette listens to the boy’s plight intently. It was obvious that Johnny was in a lot of denial. Either that, or he was delusional. He figured either one was possible at this point. Once Johnny finishes yapping, Emette takes a minute before responding.

“Well…what was your real dad like?” Johnny shrugs.

“He was busy a lot of the time. But he came home from work later in the day; sometimes at night or early in the morning. He said he worked really odd hours. He worked at Willow Water International Power Company when he lived with us. I don’t know if that’s changed since he left, or not. All I know is that sometimes when I’d wake up in the morning, he’d take me to school because I didn’t like riding the bus. He’d even pack me lunch whenever he could. I knew it was him who had packed it because he’d leave an extra cookie for me as long as I promised not to tell mom.” Johnny laughs before continuing. “He was the one who convinced my mom to let me do football when I said I wanted to do it. Then he’d help me practice whenever he could. He came to every single one of my games. Whether we won or lost, he would always tell me that I did a great job and that he was proud of me. He always got me the best gifts for my birthday and Christmas. Sometimes he’d take me to football or baseball games, if he could get the tickets. I can’t think of many bad things that he did. Yeah, sometimes he’d yell at me when he shouldn’t have, or make me cry without meaning it. But, I don’t remember him doing anything unforgivable. Maybe I’ll be a little mad if he comes back from being gone for so long, but I’m sure that once I hear the reason, I’ll forgive him.” Johnny explains. Emette was even more concerned now than before. Normally parents who just up and walk out on their families are either of unsound mind or have had a domestic dispute of some kind. And most of the time they don’t end up coming back. He figured now would be a bad time to try and explain all of this to Johnny and just suggest that he let it go, however, so he simply nods with each sentence the boy completes.

“Sounds like he was a good father.” He remarks. Johnny smiles longingly and nods.

“Yeah. He was the best.”

“Maybe he will come back one day.” Emette says, even though he knew the chances were slim to none. Johnny smiles at him.

“You think so?”

“Sure! It sounds like he really loved you, after all.”

“Yeah, he did.” He looks up just in time to see them coming upon his house. Emette parks in his driveway and shuts the car off.

“You want me to walk up there with you, Kid?” He asks. Johnny nods and the two climb out of the car. They step up onto his porch and Johnny looks Emette in the eyes. He thanks God that he can still see humanity in them after tonight. And Emette’s gentle smile only adds to his humanness and further reassures Johnny that nothing between the two had changed. Not for the worse, at least. “I’ll be over tomorrow, remember?” Johnny nods.

“Yeah. I’m still looking forward to it.” Emette chuckles and ruffles his blonde hair.

“Hmhm…that’s good. I thought you would’ve seen me as some kind of monster after all that.”

“Nah. Not since I know the reason why you do it. Maybe if you didn’t have a reason I would. But since I know that you don’t just target random people who’ve done nothing wrong, I don’t brand you as a monster. You’re still the same old Emette. Just…a little bit scarier. But not by too much.”

“Ha ha. Well, I’d better get going. It’s getting late.”

“Yeah, me too. Goodnight, Emette.”

“’Night, Kid.” Emette waves goodbye and makes his way out to his car. Johnny watches him drive off and leans up against the door as soon as he’s gone. He bites his now quivering bottom lip and buries his face in his hands. He begins to softly sob as he slowly sinks closer to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't you just love the ending to this chapter? Didn't it just fill you with so much joy and happiness? Well, don't worry too much if you think chapter 6 is gonna be too angsty for ya. To tell you the truth, I'm not entirely sure if it will be yet or not. I'm only a couple of paragraphs in. I do know that those two paragraphs aren't all that angsty, though, lol.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this very short chapter of Killer Idol, and I hope you'll stick around for more! Thank you homies for reading!


	6. Back to Life, Back to Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wanna know what love iiiiiisss~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings:  
> Emetophobia
> 
> Sorry this chapter took longer than usual, I don't really remember what my excuse for this being a little bit later was, lol. I'm also sorry that I lied about this chapter not being angsty. It's not THAT bad compared to some of the stuff I have in store for y'all in the future, though, lol. Anyway, I hope you like this awkwardly gay chapter of Killer Idol!

(Emeto in this paragraph)

Emette’s eyes flutter open and he groans as he struggles to sit upright. He was familiar with the cold tile below, as he had woken up there many times in the past few years. His body was stiff from laying on the hard ground all night. He knew exactly what had happened last night, and flushes the toilet before he even has a chance to see his own vomit. He can taste the bile on his tongue and sighs as he turns the water in the sink on. He grabs a small cup from a rather tall stack that was sitting next to his cologne on the sink, and fills it with water. He downs a few cups before rinsing his mouth out and setting up his toothbrush. He makes sure to thoroughly brush his teeth and tongue so that he could no longer taste any of the vile digestive fluids that were purged from his stomach before he passed out last night. He examines his face in the mirror. Yep. As expected, he looks haggard and lifeless. Of course, that could also be because he had just woken up in general. Whatever it was, Emette decides it was pointless to dwell on it and gets undressed for a shower. Emette lets the water wash over his dark, sleek skin. He made sure to make it colder this morning, to help him come back into reality more quickly. It was refreshing to take a cold shower every now and again, anyway. His wet hair clings to his face as the water keeps the two bonded together. He pauses for a moment just to let himself feel how soothing the cool liquid was running down his face and through his hair; over his chest and arms and in between the cleavages in his abs. Slowly but surely, he can feel himself coming back to life. Or, as “back to life” as was possible for him. He wasn’t exactly sure how “alive” he really was anymore.

 

After his shower, he throws on some clothes; just a tank top and a pair of boxers for now. He stretches out his firm back and hears the satisfying cracking of his spine as he does so. Bubba rubs up against his leg, and he chuckles. He leans down to pet the cat, before slowly making his way upstairs. Hanging out with Johnny crosses his mind, and he suddenly perks up. He sees his family doing various morning type things. His father was drinking coffee and reading the newspaper and his sister was at the table eating cereal. He grins and runs over to her. “Heeeeeeey Sarah!” He chimes. Sarah scowls and continues eating her food in silence. “How’s my favorite little sister, doing?” She still doesn’t entertain any of his questions and avoids looking at him. “Aw, come on now. Don’t ignore me, I’m your big brother!” Eventually Emette pouts and gives up with her. Instead, he chooses to pick on his mother, who was in the kitchen baking bread, next. “¡Buenos días!” He chirps.

“Hola. In a Spanish-speaking mood today?” She asks.

“Maybe. Watcha up to?”

“Baking bread.”

“Do we ever have enough bread?” Emette jokes. His mother shrugs.

“The more, the merrier!”

“Isn’t that phrase usually reserved for people, Angelina?” Emette’s dad asks.

“Don’t get smart with me, Stanly. I have a dough roller in my hands and I’m not afraid to use it.” She teases. Emette rushes over to his dad and throws an arm around his shoulders.

“Yeah, Stanly!”

“Emette…” Stanly growls.

“Ah, I’m just jokin’, old man! I know your **real** name is Dad! Kind of disrespectful of mom to call you by a different name, huh?”

“Yeah. **Real** disrespectful…”

“You hear that, mom? Knock it off!” Emette teases, before wandering into the kitchen to get some breakfast. He didn’t really feel like cooking anything. Instead, he decides to grab a bagel and eat it plain. No one bothered to comment on it, even though they all thought it strange and unappetizing to eat a bagel plain. Emette was surprisingly not hungry for someone who had emptied the contents of his stomach last night. He figured that it would come back to bite him in the ass later in the day, but that wasn’t too big of a concern for him. After all, he was sure Johnny wouldn’t let him go hungry. After finishing off his bagel, he grabs a lighter and a pack of cigarettes from off of the table and heads out onto the back porch for a smoke. Emette wasn’t too heavy of a smoker. He usually had one every morning before school and every night before bed. He’d pick random times throughout the day to smoke as well; usually while he was doing homework, or if he couldn’t sleep. It relaxed him and kept his mouth busy. It was also beneficial to his parents and sister, since it meant he’d shut up for a little while. While it wasn’t doing his body any favors, it sure was helping to relax his mind when he needed it. And God, sometimes did he need it. After his smoke break is over and he snuffs out the cinders in the ashtray, he walks back inside and goes back downstairs. He checks his clock. 12:27. _“Johnny should be up by now,”_ he thinks as he dials his number. It doesn’t take Johnny long to pick up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Kid! You ready for me to come over?”

“Oh! Yeah! Uh…I hope you don’t mind, though, I’m alone with the girls for a while, so we won’t be able to do anything just the two of us until my mom and Clyde get back.” Johnny informs.

“It’s no problem! I had fun last time I came over with the four of you.”

“Ahah, that’s good! Come over as soon as you can, then. Seriously, I need help with the girls.” The boy pleads. Emette laughs.

“Will do!” He hangs up the phone and sifts through his drawers to find a t-shirt and some pants. He pulls out a random shirt and some dark blue jeans. The shirt was black with red letters that spelled, “BAD,” in all capitals. He throws on his clothes and tells his family goodbye before he heads out to his car. He revs up the engine and pulls out of the already open garage leisurely. Once he’s on the street and out of his neighborhood, however, he was going just shy of 90 in a 75. He was a speed demon when he was in the car alone on open streets. The town wasn’t that busy at this time of day, Emette had come to notice. Therefore, he had a feeling speeding just a little wouldn’t do any harm. If you could call 90 “a little.”

 

_(Emeto in this paragraph)_

Needless to say, it doesn’t take Emette long to reach his friend’s house. He parks in a spot next to the curb instead of in the driveway, since he knew Johnny’s parents could come home at any time, and he didn’t want to be taking up their parking spots. He knocks a few times at the front door and can hear Johnny try to gather the girls up from beyond. “Margaret wait-! Sally, don’t-! Janette, please move and let me get the door!” The black haired boy chuckles. He always found sibling banter to be funny. Especially when it was an older sibling with their younger siblings. After about half a minute, Johnny answers the door. He huffs, looking slightly frazzled like the girls had been running him rampant ever since he got up. He smiles at the other nonetheless, and Emette smiles back.

“Hi, Emmy!” Janette greets.

“Emette!” Sally and Margret shout.

“Hey!” Emette chimes.

“They’ve been asking me when you were coming over all morning.” Johnny says, as he gently nudges the girls back so that Emette can come in.

“Really, now? You all must have been really excited to see me.” All the girls bounce up and down in agreement. Johnny lets out an exhausted sigh and slumps down on the sofa. “Worn out already, Kid?” Emette asks. Johnny places his hands over his face and groans.

“You have no idea. I barely got any sleep last night, and the girls have been running me ragged ever since I woke up.” Emette rubs the back of his neck. He had a feeling he knew why Johnny hadn’t gotten much sleep.

“Oh. Yeah, well…maybe tonight.”

“Doubt it, but let’s hope so.” Johnny’s tone seemed to be a little bit agitated. It was to be expected, however.

“Emette! What do you wanna do first?” Margaret asks.

“We should play house again!” Sally suggests.

“Nooo…I’m too tired…” Johnny whines. Janette jumps up and down with her hand raised.

“Ooo! Ooo! We can have a tea party!” She suggests. Emette grins.

“I like that idea! What say you, Johnny?” He asks the other boy. Johnny only groans and rises to his feet in response. Guilt tugs at Emette’s chest as he gazes at the boy’s worn face. He would feel bad forcing him to do something when he was too tired.

“Hey, uh, Kid. How about I take care of the girls and you go get some more sleep?” He suggests. Johnny shakes his head.

“No, I don’t wanna just dump them on you and leave…”

“You won’t be. I offered to play with them while you were gone. When you wake up, then all five of us can do something together! Or, if your parents are home by then, just you and I can hang! How’s that sound?” Johnny was too tired to think on it for too long. Climbing back into bed did sound awfully tempting, after all. The blonde one eventually nods and begins to shuffle back upstairs. “Sleep tight, Kid! I’ll make sure we’re all relatively quiet down here!” After the boy had entered his room, Emette turns to the girls with a smile on his face. “So, we were going to a tea party, right?” Janette and Margaret nod, but Sally pouts. “What’s wrong?” Emette asks.

“I don’t want tea.” She mumbles.

“We don’t all have to drink tea! What would you like to drink?” Without missing a beat, Sally replies,

“Chocolate milk!” Emette’s smile immediately drops and he can feel his stomach flip at the mention of the drink.

“Chocolate milk, eh…? Well…let me see what you guys have in the fridge…” Emette fakes a smile and turns to the kitchen, praying to God that they didn’t have the ingredients necessary to make the drink. Emette could feel sweat begin to collect on his skin as he opens the refrigerator doors and peers in. He spots the milk, but no chocolate sauce. He lets out a relieved sigh. Although, he would feel bad having to tell Sally that he wouldn’t be able to make it. “Sorry, Sally. I don’t see any chocolate syrup.”

“What?! Lemme see!” She nudges past him and glances around the fridge. “Here it is!” She exclaims. Emette’s heart stops beating momentarily as the girl hands him the bottle with the ingredient in it. He stares at the label for a moment, not noticing how bad his hand was shaking. He swallows the lump in his throat before retrieving the milk and setting the two ingredients out on the counter. He has to gather himself before he reaches up into the cabinet and grabs a cup and takes a spoon out of the drawer. He needs to use both of his hands to hold the jug of milk steady as he pours it. After putting the milk away, he once again stares at the syrup, reluctant to pour it. Sally quirks a brow. “What’s wrong, Emette?” She asks. Emette snaps out of his stupor.

“Huh? Oh! Nothing, just reading the ingredients, eheh…” He chuckles falsely before very hesitantly beginning to pour the chocolate sauce into the milk. He was already beginning to feel nauseous. Once he puts the syrup away, he unsteadily picks up the spoon and begins stirring. His mind was racing as he stares at the swirling white liquid that was slowly turning into a light brown. Once the smell of the concoction arises, Emette has to choke down his own vomit, needing to turn his head away occasionally to avoid inhaling any more of the aroma. He glances over to Sally who was looking at him expectantly and his skin begins to sting with cold sweat immediately. He places a hand over his mouth and takes a moment to stop and swallow. He eventually finishes mixing the chocolate milk and hands it to her; managing to muster up a weak smile when he does so.

“Thank you!” She cheers. Emette nods. His voice trembles as he speaks.

“N-No problem. Why don’t you girls go on ahead and head into your room? I’ll be in in just a second.” The three girls agree and do as he suggests. Once they’re gone, Emette heads for the bathroom down the hall and leans over the toilet. His mouth salivates and he pants as he waits for the inevitable. Before long, his stomach is lurching and emptying itself of what little it contained. He tries to occupy his mind from the thoughts that were crowding in and only making him heave more. However, after that, it was hard to. His limbs quiver as he stands. He looks at himself in the mirror. His eyes had been watering and his nose was running. _“You look absolutely pathetic.”_ He says to himself, before cleaning his face and any messes he made up and exiting the bathroom.

 

Johnny blinks his eyes open and rolls over. He glances at his clock. 2:38. It had been a little over two hours, and Johnny felt more rested now that he had taken a nap. He yawns and stretches, making his way downstairs. He can hear Emette and the girls playing in their room. He smiles lightly before opening the door.

“Hey, gir-…” He stops mid-sentence as he sees the scene before him. “I…see the girls decided to give you a makeover…”

“Yep! They do a good job, don’t they?” Emette replies.

“Emmy did my makeup, too!”

“And mine!”

“He did mine, first!” The three girls all shout. While all the girls’ makeup looked pretty much flawless, Emette’s was a little less so. Nonetheless, Johnny was just happy it wasn’t him. However, Janette brings up a dreaded suggestion that Johnny was hoping she wouldn’t have.

“Emmy, you should do Johnny’s makeup, too!”

“Yeah, I should!” Emette slyly looks up at Johnny, who frantically backs away.

“Oh, no no no no! No way!” While it was evident that Emette was quite skilled with makeup (for some reason Johnny wasn’t sure if he wanted to know or not), he hated the idea of having that stuff caked all over his face. The girls begin to whine and beg him, however.

“Pleeeease, Johnny?! Pleeeease?!” How could he say no to them without feeling bad? He sighs deeply and sits down in a small plastic chair. Emette takes the foundation and starts spreading it on the boy’s face.

“What is this?” He asks.

“Foundation! You know, the stuff you put on before the rest of the makeup.” Emette answers. Johnny knew absolutely nothing about makeup, and he was surprised that Emette knew anything at all about it.

“How do you know so much about this stuff?” Johnny inquires. Emette hums as he grabs the blush and begins lightly dusting his cheeks with it.

“I have a little sister, remember? I used to do her makeup all the time when we were little if our mom said no. After a long time of doing it, I’ve gotten pretty good at it. Sometimes Sarah still asks me to do her makeup for her.”

“Wow. That’s surprising. I never would’ve thought Sarah would let you do her makeup for her.”

“Sometimes she just gets lazy.” As soon as Emette begins to put the eyeliner on, Johnny flinches.

“What is that?!”

“Eyeliner! Hold still, I’m trying to wing it.”

“Wing it?! You don’t know how to do this?!”

“Of course I do! Winged eyeliner is just a style, I’m not saying I don’t know how to do it.” Emette laughs. “Of course, the way you’re resisting, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do it or not.”

“Try not to do anything extra, please.” Johnny requests.

“Aww, you’re no fun.”

“Yeah, Johnny, you’re no fun!” Sally says, warranting a chuckle from Emette.

“And now time for the lipstick!”

“Please don’t.”

“Relax, Kid, this is the liquid stuff!” Emette says, as he begins to apply it to the other’s lips. It doesn’t take him long before he’s done, and he hands Johnny a mirror. It was smudged with fingerprints from where the girls had been carelessly handling it. However, Johnny is clearly able to see his reflection. The makeup didn’t look bad at all, and was actually quite fitting. The lipstick was a light pink that wasn’t too overbearing, and the eyeshadow was so soft that it was hardly noticeable. However, the makeup felt heavy on his face and was making him uncomfortable. “Well, Kid? Whaddya think?”

“It actually looks really good.”

“You’re so pretty Johnny!” Margaret says. All the other girls agree and Johnny laughs.

“Ahah. Thank you.”

“Very pretty.” Emette remarks and looks Johnny in the eyes. Johnny’s pink cheeks turn even pinker and he looks away. A sudden thought occurs to him and he looks back to Emette.

“Hey, where did you get this makeup from anyway?” He asks.

“I dunno. The girls just gave it to me.” Johnny looks to the girls, hoping they wouldn’t answer with what he was thinking.

“We got it from mommy’s room.” Janette claims.

“Girls!” Johnny shouts, collecting up all the beauty products. “You can’t take mommy’s makeup! I thought you were using the stuff she bought you all!”

“B-But that makeup is boring, and it doesn’t look anything like mommy’s!” Sally argues.

“Ugh, I can’t believe this! I leave you all alone for two hours and you steal your mother’s makeup!” Johnny growls, as he stomps out of the room to go put the makeup back in their mother’s bathroom. All the girls displayed guilty looks on their faces. Emette did as well. When Johnny enters again, he had washed his face clean. Save for some eyeliner that was difficult to remove. The tips of his bangs drip with water as he glares at Emette, who was taken aback by the sudden look of disappointment and anger. “And how can you just let them do this?! Why didn’t you think to ask them where the makeup came from?!”

“Sorry, Kid! I guess I just wasn’t thinking. Look, do you want me to like…buy your mom new makeup or something?” The black haired boy offers. Johnny sighs with frustration.

“No. We’re not gonna tell my mom about any of this. Everyone go wash the makeup off of their faces before she gets home.” The blonde one demands. Needless to say, everyone does as he says. Johnny goes back into the living room and sits on the sofa in a huff. This day wasn’t turning out how he wanted it to. Emette was in the bathroom with the girls, helping them get their makeup off. After a good 20 or so minutes, all of them had completely cleaned off their faces, and Emette walks into the living room to talk to Johnny.

“Hey, Kid.” Emette says softly. Johnny glances at him, but doesn’t reply. The dark skinned boy then sits down beside him. “I’m sorry for not asking them about the makeup. I just assumed it was theirs.” Johnny shrugs.

“It’s okay. I’m not really all that mad anymore.” Nonetheless, he still appears as though he were depressed in some way. Emette places a hand on his head and gently runs his fingers through his hair. Johnny blushes, of course, but remains still and silent.

“I’m sorry I’m putting you through all this.” He hums quietly. “If I could let you off completely, I would in a heartbeat. But unfortunately, I can’t. I promise I’ll make this as easy for you as possible. I’ll lessen the pain in any way I can.” Johnny can hear the sincerity and genuine remorse in the other’s voice, and begins to feel a little better now that he was assured about how much Emette cared for him. He nods as Emette continues to show him affection. He wasn’t sure why Emette was doing this. He assumes it was just to comfort him because he knew he was upset. And he was right. Emette knew Johnny liked it when he was affectionate towards him, and he wanted to shower him in it if it meant he would feel even the least bit better. Emette scoots closer to the boy, and pulls him in lightly with one arm around him. Johnny’s face turns redder, and he feels tense. It was hard to relax when someone who you thought to be completely out of your league was showing you affection. However, he can’t complain, as this was undoubtedly something that he had been wanting for a long time. After a while of feeling stiff, he finally lets his head rest on Emette’s chest. It was still a little bit weird, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t enjoying it. The two had completely forgotten about the girls, who were now peacefully getting along in their room. They had been a little shaken by Johnny’s reaction to their previous endeavor, and they decide they didn’t want to endure another scolding. Even if Johnny was much gentler than their mother was.

 

By the time 4:30 rolls around, Johnny’s parents had gotten home, and he and Emette were alone in his room. Emette hadn’t seen Johnny’s room until now, and was checking the place out. He observes his bed, and his desk that sat in front of a rather large window. He looks at the various knickknacks on top of his dresser, and the small TV that was sitting against his wall, next to his closet. He had a few posters on his wall and a beanbag chair. Next to the beanbag chair was a pile of neatly stacked comics and magazines. Emette flops down into the beanbag chair with a big fluff, and Johnny laughs. “Careful not to bust that thing.” He says. Emette leans back nonchalantly and hums.

“Don’t worry, Kid. I’ll be careful.” He reaches over to the stack of comics and picks one up. “Ah, I see you read Captain Noir.” Johnny rubs the back of his neck, a little embarrassed about someone as cool as Emette finding out that he read comics. He had always thought of comics as a, “nerds only,” thing.

“Yeah. It’s been a while since I’ve read it, though. Those comics are kinda old.” Emette opens the comic book and begins flipping through the pages, only glancing at the pictures as he went.

“It’s nicely illustrated.” He comments.

“Yeah! I really like the author’s style. It’s kind of macabre, but very detailed. It really sets the mood.” Johnny adds enthusiastically. After saying that, however, he realized how nerdy it was and begins to regret it. Emette, on the other hand, thought that it was cute, and smiles at the boy’s excitement as he continues skimming through the pages.

“I’ve only read the first couple issues of Captain Noir when I was younger. I started buying other types of comics and magazines when I got older.” The dark skinned boy remarks, as he sets the comic down and picks up another one.

“Really? You read comics?” Johnny’s eyes light up hopefully. Emette nods as he looks over the next comic book.

“Yep! Only occasionally, though. Sometimes schoolwork gets in the way. Plus, money is an issue and I gotta have my cigs. Plus, I’ve moved on to magazines mostly.”

“Oh, what kind if magazines do you read?”

“Hm. I’ve got a wide interest when it comes to magazines. I guess you could say that, with me, you’ll get the ‘best of both worlds’. Next time you come over to my house, I can show you my collection, if you want.”

“Uh…sure!” Johnny wasn’t exactly sure what his shady answer meant, but he figured whatever Emette read wouldn’t be anything harmful or disgusting. Right? Emette sets the other comic book down and picks up a magazine.

“Hey! I read these magazines too!” Emette says.

“Really? That’s so cool! I didn’t know you enjoyed Geek Week!”

“Hell yeah! I’m a huge geek! Have you **seen** my action figures?”

“Huh? No. Where were they when I came over to your house?”

“They were probably hidden by some books, or something. But yeah, I have all sorts of action figures! They’re mostly superhero action figures, but I may or may not have some stuff from a few Japanese cartoons…” Emette trails off a bit at the last sentence, but clears his throat and continues to read.

“Wow. I’m so relieved that you’re a geek, too! I was afraid you’d think I was weird.” Johnny says with a relieved sigh. Emette chuckles.

“Nah. I’m just a big dweeb. I think most people who don’t know me well think that I’m some cool, suave jock who’s too good for them. But honestly, all I do in my down time is smoke, watch cartoons, and read comics and magazines. I’m nothin’ special.” Johnny smiles warmly at him.

“I think you’re special. Not in the way everyone else thinks, but…I think you’re special in that you’re not like anyone else. You’re open minded, and smart, and considerate. You managed to bring me out of my shell. I honestly didn’t think that was possible, until you came along…and something about you just…lets me know that I can trust you, and makes me feel safe…I think you’re great.” Emette stares at Johnny for a moment in surprise, prompting Johnny to look away nervously. _“Oh no. I weirded him out.”_ He thinks to himself. Emette grins fondly, however, getting a warm feeling in his heart.

“That’s sweet, Kid.” He hums. A tiny smile pulls at Johnny’s lips. “You know. I always thought you were real special, too.” Emette stands up from the beanbag chair and walks over to Johnny. He places a hand on his chin, and gently lifts his face up so that they’re looking into each other’s eyes. “I remember thinking about how unique you were the day we first hung out. You’re fun, you’re kind, and you have such a beautiful personality. You’re so amazing, Johnny. I’ve been meaning to tell you that.” Emette says in a low voice that was almost a whisper. Johnny’s heart skips a beat as he gazes into the other’s eyes. He giggles and a wide grin stretches his face. His eyes soon begin to sparkle, however, and his bottom lip quivers. He pulls away from Emette and buries his face in his hands. Emette turns frantic at the boy’s reaction. _“Shit! What’d I do?!_ Kid?! Are you alright?! D-Did I say something wrong?!” Johnny shakes his head.

“N-No…it’s just…n-no one’s ever s-said that to me…b-before…” The blonde boy sniffles. “Th-thank you…Emette.” Emette’s worried expression turns to a gentle smile, as he wraps his arms around Johnny, letting his head rest on his chest. He rubs the boy’s back. Neither of them were quite sure what they felt for the other at that moment. This was possibly the weirdest friendship either of them had ever had. However, both of them were enjoying each other’s company. Possibly even more than just enjoying. Once Johnny had stopped crying, Emette lets go of him. He wipes his eyes off and sniffles a little, before looking down at his feet. “Emette…” He begins in a quiet voice, “…how am I going to handle all of this? As far as the murder stuff goes? I don’t know what to do or how to cope with all of this. I stayed up so late last night just reliving what I saw. I know that man deserved what you were doing to him, but…somehow that doesn’t help with how traumatizing it was. I just don’t think I can go through that again.” Johnny begins crying softly again. “But I know I don’t have a choice…and it scares me. I still like you the same as I always have, Emette, but…just knowing that I can’t get out of this with my sanity completely intact is so stressful. It’s like getting a shot. I know it’s coming, but I don’t know when, and it hurts. It’s only brief, but it hurts. You can count down until the minute it happens, but that doesn’t make it any less painful. I know you told me I don’t have to do anything but stand there, and that I don’t even have to look, but…sitting in the corner, looking at a wall while someone behind me begs for mercy as their guts are being ripped out of their body is almost just as awful as having to watch. I don’t know how much of it I can take before it changes me for worse. I really like you, Emette. You’re my best friend, and I know that you care about me. I know you want to make this as easy as possible for me, but…I’m still horrified. I’m just a wimp. I may be on the football team, but I’m a 5’5 nerd with no backbone whatsoever. I know that if I refuse, you’ll kill me. I understand why you need me to be there when you kill people now that I know you’re secret. But please…I just need something. I don’t know what. Reassurance, maybe. Just something to help ease my anxiety so that I’m not up at night wondering when you’re gonna call me and tell me that we have to kill someone soon. I trust you, Emette. Even though you could kill me whenever you want with ease and get away with it, I still trust you more than anyone. So please…tell me what to do.” Emette stares at him with a light, but heartbroken expression. He kneels down and sets a hand on the blonde boy’s cheek comfortingly.

“It gets easier. It’ll be hard the first few times to sit through all that. But I promise you’ll get used to it. You’ll lie awake at night; sometimes for hours just thinking about what you witnessed. Some nights you won’t any sleep at all. You’ll feel sick and scared looking back on everything. I know it’ll especially be hard since you won’t be able to tell anybody what’s wrong. But you can always talk to me about how you’re feeling. I know it seems like little consolation considering how much you’ll be put through, but I promise that I’ll comfort you in any way possible. I care about you, and I want you to know that I’m here whenever you need me. I won’t be doing this forever, Kid. One day I will stop. But for now, just bear with me. I know you’re afraid. But it’ll be okay. I’ll always be here. You just gotta be strong. Okay?” Johnny nods as his tears let up. Emette wipes the remaining tears away with his thumbs.

“Out of everyone who could be holding my death above my head right now, I’m glad it’s you.” Johnny says with a smile. Emette laughs softly.

“Well, out of everyone whose death I could be holding above their head right now, I’m glad it’s you.” Johnny chuckles.

“I’m actually kind of glad that you and I are stuck together.”

“Me too. Cause you know that now you can’t leave no matter what, right?”

“Right. But I don’t want to leave.”

“That’s good, then. At least I know I’m not **completely** making you suffer.”

“Ha ha. No, I’d probably take my chances turning you in if that were the case. Cause then, if you got arrested, I could live freely. But if you killed me, at least I wouldn’t be suffering anymore.” Johnny says. Emette laughs uneasily, while rubbing the back of his neck. He feels guilty for making Johnny think this way.

 

Johnny and Emette spend some more time up in his room, before they eventually head downstairs. Martha was making dinner while Clyde played with the girls. Johnny avoids looking at Clyde, but Emette greets him with a grin and a wave. “Hey, there, Mr. Carmichael!”

“ **Jones.** ” Johnny corrects in a low, aggravated tone.

“Oh, I meant, Mr. Jones!” Clyde sets Margaret down and heads over to him.

“Hey, Emette! It’s nice to meet you. I didn’t get a chance to properly meet you last time you were over.” Clyde holds out his hand, which Emette gladly takes. The two men exchange a few words before Johnny gets impatient, and grabs the black haired boy’s wrist, giving it a few gentle tugs. Emette notices and eventually cuts it off with Clyde. The two boys then wander outside and sit on Johnny’s front porch.

“He’s nice!” Emette remarks.

“Yeah… **too** nice…” The blonde one mumbles. Emette sits back and looks up at the purple, orange, and pinks of the evening sky.

“Real pretty sky, huh, Kid?” He says. Johnny turns his attention up to the sky and nods.

“Yeah. Really pretty. This is my favorite time of day, I think.” Emette hums in agreement.

“Hm. Mine too. I really like nighttime, though. Something about driving through the city at night really calms me down.”

“I don’t get to go into the city that much. So I wouldn’t know.”

“Maybe I can take you there at night sometime.” Emette offers, and looks back down to Johnny.

“Yeah.” Johnny replies and looks at Emette. “I’d like that.” The two gaze at each other for a moment, before Emette turns his head to face out into the street. “What’s wrong?”

“Do you see that car, Kid?” Johnny turns his head to face in the direction he was looking. On the other side of the street was a rusty black and brown car.

“Hey…that car looks familiar.” Johnny observes, squinting and leaning in closer. Before he can get a good look, the car swerves around and speeds off, the tires screeching as it goes.

“Huh. That’s strange.” The dark skinned boy comments. “Wonder if it was some creeps or something.”

“Maybe. But I think I’ve seen that car somewhere before. I can’t quite remember.”

“Well, if they come around here again, I’m gonna confront ‘em.” Emette says, before rising to his feet. “Let’s go inside for now, though, Kid. Just in case they are trouble.” Johnny agrees and follows the man back inside.

“Oh! Hey, boys! You’re just in time for dinner!” Martha chimes, as she sets everyone’s plates out. Emette’s stomach had been growling for the past three hours, so he was definitely happy to hear this. Johnny was as well, he had barely eaten anything since this morning. Which was a surprise, since he always seemed to be eating something when he was at home. The two take a seat next to each other.

“Another pasta dish, mom?” Johnny asks, as he observes the plate of lasagna. “We just had spaghetti last night, ha ha.”

“Oh hush! You know you like lasagna.” Martha says.

“I know! I’m just a little surprised, is all.”

“I hope Emette likes lasagna, too.” Martha says, to look up and see Emette already eating. He nods as he chews his food. Johnny laughs and begins eating as well. The dinner table conversation consists mostly of Martha talking between Clyde and the girls, and Johnny and Emette talking to each other. However, Martha soon directs a question towards the dark skinned boy. “So, Emette. I understand you just moved here a couple years ago. Where are you from?”

“Oh, I’m from somewhere that’s further into the city. We’ve moved around a lot, though. Millview, I think is the last place I lived before we moved here. It wasn’t a particularly safe neighborhood. There were plenty of abandoned buildings to go exploring in, though.”

“Wow! That’s interesting! I hope you’re not planning on moving again anytime soon, though.” Martha says.

“Well, the way things are turning out right now, I doubt we’ll be leaving anytime soon, ha ha.” Emette laughs, before taking another bit of his food.

“If Emmy moves, I’m going with him!” Janette shouts.

“And leave me behind?” Johnny says, sticking out his bottom lip and giving her puppy dog eyes.

“You can come, too.” Emette offers.

“Awesome!”

“Nobody’s going with Emette if he moves.” Martha says.

“Come on, mom. I’m eighteen. I’m legally an adult. I can make my own decisions!”

“Yeah, but **legally** you’re still in high school. And you still live under my roof. Besides, I don’t know if Emette’s parents would want another kid to look after.” Martha looks to Emette for an answer.

“Ah, I’m sure my folks wouldn’t mind! He is old enough to function by himself, after all. Not sure how they’d feel about taking in a five, seven, and nine year old, though.” The black haired boy chuckles.

“Awww…” All the girls display disappointed faces.

“Don’t worry, though! I’m not moving anytime soon. So you won’t have to worry about coming to live with me. I’ll still be over here from time to time.” He assures.

The family take turns conversing with Emette, until everyone was done with their food. Emette looks at his watch. 7:51. “Well, Kid. I’d better be off. We can hang out tomorrow, too, if you want.”

“Sure, Emette! What time are you thinking? I’ll call you when I’m up.”

“Any time after 11 is good for me. I usually don’t wake up until then, ha ha.” Johnny nods. Emette then says goodbye to Martha, Clyde, and the girls, and heads out to his car. They all wave at him as he drives off, and he gives a quick wave back as he goes. On the way out of the neighborhood, he spots the car from earlier. It was parked on the side of the street near the entrance to the neighborhood. Emette glances at it as he passes, noticing how the windows were tinted and how beat up the thing looked. He backs up a little bit to catch a peek at the license plate. However, the driver must have realized what he was doing, and speeds off before he can get all the digits he needs. Emette huffs, but continues on his way home, nonetheless. The drive home always seemed shorter than the drive to Johnny’s. Which was a surprise. Usually Emette had so much on his mind when he left from Johnny’s house after he dropped him off from school, or when he came back home from hanging out. As normal, Emette parks his car in his garage and sighs. He enters to see that everyone had already migrated to their rooms and decides to do the same. He always came home from Johnny’s feeling dead. Perhaps it was just the fact that he actually had time with his own thoughts now. Whatever it was, Emette decides to call it a night, despite it only being around 8-ish. He usually went to bed around 10 or 11. However, he was too tired to care. The boy takes off all his clothes except for his boxers and throws on a tank top. He goes into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his hair out in the sink. He hated having it greased up while he slept. After he dries his hair, he crawls into bed and shuts off his lamp, praying that he wouldn’t wake up on the bathroom floor next morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're. Getting. GAY ER.  
> Thanks for reading, homies! I hope you'll stick around for more!


	7. Age

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emette Manning voice: "I won't hesitate, bitch."
> 
> (Read notes).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings:  
> N/A(?).
> 
> Sorry this chapter took so long. Boy, was I busy. Plus, I'm trying to get on a better sleeping schedule, and it's left me tired as balls, man. This chapter kinda hit home for me while I was writing one scene, lol. It's a cute chapter, though, I think. Enjoy!

Johnny and Emette had met up earlier that morning at Johnny’s house. Emette had offered to take him into town for a while so that the two could hang out and not be confined to a house. It wasn’t like either of them minded being around the girls, but it was still nice to be able to get away from all the noise and just hang. Emette lights a cigarette and leans up against the wall of one of the buildings. “Are we allowed to loiter here?” Johnny wonders.

“I didn’t see any signs that said we couldn’t.” The black haired boy says after puffing out a cloud of nicotine. Johnny tries to avoid inhaling any of the smoke. He didn’t want to get a headache while they were chilling out together. It would make the day a little less enjoyable for him. After Emette snuffs out his cigarette, he pats Johnny’s back. “C’mon Kid. I know a place where we can go to hang.” He leads the boy down the strip a little ways until they come upon a park with lush green grass, a walkway, and plenty of giant trees.

“You…wanna hang out at the park?” Johnny asks. Emette nods.

“Yep! I figured we’d hang here for a little while, then cold lamp at Cat’s Pj’s or something. That sound good?”

“Uh…sure!” Johnny perks up, even though he had no idea why Emette wanted to hang out at the park. He didn’t seem like the park type to him. Of course, Emette didn’t seem like the type who would commit murder, either. It seemed like the boy surprised Johnny every day with something totally unexpected. Perhaps Johnny would get used to it eventually. They wander around the park for a bit, just glancing around at the serene scenery and smelling the crisp air with every gradual step. Neither of them said much, but Johnny figured that was alright. Even sitting or walking in silence around Emette still felt as though they were having a deep conversation, Johnny thinks. That’s just the type of person Emette was. No words could feel like a million with him. But all of his words felt like they meant something. Johnny was grateful for that. It wasn’t often he came across someone with such deepness to their personality that everything about them felt like it was part of something bigger; more intense; more passionate. He knew that every word of wisdom came from a place of feeling and possibly even experience. Johnny couldn’t deny how incredibly fascinating the other man was. The two eventually look to each other, both seeming to be thinking the same thing.

“Wanna sit down, Kid?” Emette asks. Johnny nods affirmatively.

“Mhm.” The two take a seat on a nearby bench sitting on a hill that overlooked the park. The two could see everything, from the playground, to the jogging trail, to the rest of the forest that stretched out for who knows how far. Johnny swings his legs back and forth, and Emette watches with amusement. Johnny really did seem like a little kid to him at times. He knew he and the other boy were the same age and in the same grade, but he couldn’t help seeing a little boy in him sometimes for whatever reason. Of course, he did still think Johnny an adult, but it was hard not to see the child in him every now and then; in the best way. He observes how the boy gazes out into the open space silently. He wasn’t sure if he should say anything to him or not. He looked like he was lost in thought. Emette eventually decides to sit back and enjoy the view as well. "So Emette." Johnny finally says. Emette glances at him.

"Hm?"

"I was thinking about yesterday, and how much we were...uh...hugging, I guess. I just wanted to know if that's what you do to everyone when they're upset?" The blonde boy asks.

"Nope! Hugs are reserved for people I actually **really** like and care about!" Emette informs. Johnny chuckles.

"Wow. I feel special, now." He remarks. "It seems like you've liked me for longer than a few days, though." Emette rubs the back of his neck.

"Well...there **was** junior year, you know?"

"Yeah, but we never talked back then. I was too much of a wuss to talk to you."

"Well, the few times we did interact, I thought you were pretty neat, Kid." Johnny blushes.

"Heh heh...you have no idea how out of my league I thought you were." Emette cocks an eyebrow.

"Really? I didn't realize I was that intimidating."

"You're probably not. I'm just easily intimidated." Johnny laughs. Emette reaches over and ruffles his hair.

"Well, you're not intimidated by me **now** , are you?" Johnny looks him over and hums in thought.

"Hmm...not really, I guess. I think I know too much about you for you to be intimidating to me anymore."

"That's good, then. I wouldn't want you to be scared of me."

"Yeah, I don't want to be scared of you, either." The two go silent once more for a while. "Can I admit something really nerdy to you, Emette?" Johnny asks.

"Sure, Kid! What's up?" Johnny blushes and avoids I contact nervously.

"When I first met you that day back in junior year, when you were defending me from Stephen, I remember looking up to you for the first time up close and seeing just how...captivating you were. Like...everything about you, from the way you looked, to the way you acted, to the vibes you gave off just had me floored. I started idolizing you the minute you threw your arm around my shoulder. I couldn't ever talk to you, because I was afraid you wouldn't like my personality or think I was weird, like a lot of the other kids at school do. I never was good at making friends, you know. I just have a hard time not being myself." The blonde boy goes silent, leaving Emette surprised and unimaginably flattered. He grins and leans over, pulling the boy into a warm hug.

"I'm so glad you feel comfortable being yourself around me, Kid. I wouldn't have you any other way." He hums softly. Johnny's blush deepens and his heart begins racing. "To tell you the truth, I've been wanting to be your friend since we met, too. I always thought you looked so miserable all by yourself. I'm glad the person you came out of your shell to was me. I'm so blessed to have you in my life." After that sentence, he can hear Johnny squeak and begin to cry. The boy buries his face into Emette's chest, and Emette holds him close, stroking his hair lightly. When Johnny finally stops, the dark skinned boy wraps his arms around him tighter. Johnny wraps his arms around the other boy in return, letting himself melt against his chest. Emette chuckles at this action and continues to shower him with affection.

 

Johnny smiles with his eyes hazed over as he sits with his back against Emette’s chest; Emette’s arms wrapped around him and holding him close. He felt so warm there; just sitting against his friend on a park bench on a beautiful day. Emette was thoroughly enjoying it as well. He squeezes Johnny a little bit tighter and listens to the boy hum with content. “Hmmm~…” Johnny begins to wonder if he was ever this comfortable with someone before. He wouldn’t even show this kind of affection to his other family members. Even when the girls hugged him, he felt awkward. Why was this different with Emette? He wonders. He preferred not to question it at that moment. He was too engrossed in the snuggling. Emette was feeling a little bit conflicted, however. He still felt the same for Johnny as he was the night before. Perhaps now even more so. He considers leaving a kiss on the boy’s cheek, however, he still isn’t sure just exactly how Johnny views him. Johnny doesn’t even know himself. He’s still questioning what exactly he feels for the other boy. The boys did know one thing, though: they certainly were more than just plain old friends now. _“This has to be some grand tier level of friendship.”_ Johnny thinks to himself. Johnny was beginning to fall asleep, however, he catches himself before he can and sits up. He stretches out his back and Emette watches with amusement; especially peeking at his cute, little pudgy tummy as his shirt is pulled up slightly. He chuckles when he sees how relaxed Johnny’s facial expression was. “You wanna stay here a little longer, or do you wanna go to Cat’s Pj’s? It’s up to you.” Emette says.

“Yeah, I think we should go! Was there some reason in particular that you wanted to go there?” Johnny responds. The black haired boy shrugs.

“Not really. Just thought we’d browse for a bit. I brought some money in case one of us wanted to buy something.” He winks at the blonde one, who laughs.

“You don’t have to buy anything for me, I’ve got money.”

“Yeah, but what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t buy you something every now and then?”

“Pfft- You’re bonkers, man.”

“Maybe I am, but I’d be even more bonkers if I didn’t spend at least a little bit of money on you!” Emette says, as the two boys stand up and begin to make their way back to the strip.

“I’m telling ya, I’ve got plenty of money, there’s no need to feel inclined to get me anything.” Johnny argues, still in a humorous manner. The two eventually make it to a rather big store near the end of the strip. In big letters were the words, “Cat’s Pajamas,” in a fancy font. It was one of those signs that had all of the flashing lights on it, but it wasn’t on during the day time. The boys enter the store, still carrying on the same conversation.

“Aw, come on, Kid! I’m just tryna treat ya!”

“Haven’t you treated me enough, man? We were just…uh…cuddling on the bench out there!” Johnny hesitates a bit as he remembers the correct word to describe what exactly they were doing. He blushes a bit at the realization. Emette laughs.

“Still, I wanna get you something special! Something that you’ll look at in twenty years and say, ‘hey, Emette bought me that when we went on our first date!’”

“Wait, our what?” Johnny stops in his tracks and turns to look Emette in the eyes. The black haired boy chuckles.

“Juuuuust messin’ with ya, Kid!” He says, glancing around the store. Johnny can feel his ears getting hot. Emette needed to quit with these jokes, or else his face may permanently turn red. Emette suddenly takes Johnny’s hand. “Hey Johnny! Look at this!” He nearly yanks the boy over to a shelf that displayed various lava lamps. “Neat, huh?” Johnny was still recovering from being yanked, but soon glances up to look at them.

“Ah, yeah! Pretty neat!” When he looks down, the other boy was smiling at him. “No, Emette, that’s not something I want you to buy me.” Emette’s smile drops.

“Aw, man.” He says, and begins looking around the store again. “Aha!” He once again yanks the boy along. “What about shirts? Usually they have some kinda hip phrases that kids our age are into these days.” Johnny plays along and begins looking through them. The darker skinned boy watches him as he flips through them. It doesn’t take long for Johnny to stop.

“Nah. I don’t use these phrases enough to want them plastered on my upper body.”

“Man…” Emette once again searches the store.

“You’re not gonna cry if I don’t let you buy me something are you?” Johnny asks.

“I bet you don’t wanna find out, huh?” Emette smiles at the other boy, who realizes he was right and decides to go along with his plan. He notices Emette’s eyes lock on something. This time, Johnny grabs Emette’s hand and prepares to be snatched along. “Oo! What about hats?” As Johnny expected, Emette yanks him until they arrive at the hat section. Johnny browses for a moment and perks up his eyebrows.

“Actually…I think I may have found something.”

“Really?!” Emette excitedly rushes over to the boy’s side, nearly knocking him over when he bumps into him. Johnny can’t help but feel a sense of lightheartedness at the other’s actions, however. He had never seen Emette behave so genuinely excited before. He was used to him being cool and suave. Those are definitely the best words to describe Emette when you first meet him, Johnny thinks. He picks up a plain baseball cap that was a lighter red color; almost pink. Emette quirks a brow. “You didn’t want one with words on it?”

“Well I love the color! I think it fits me pretty well! Besides, I’d prefer not to have the word, ‘Gnarly’ on my forehead.”

“You sure? I’d wear it!”

“Yeah, and I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest.”

“Heeey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Johnny grins while Emette fake-pouts.

“What, you not gonna buy this for me now?” Johnny’s grin turns more mocking as he twirls the hat on his finger. Emette can’t help but grin slyly and creep over. He creeps around to Johnny’s right side with his hands behind his back.

“Maybe…or maybe I’ll just use **your** money!” He shoves his hand into the boy’s side pocket but yields no wallet.

“Ha ha! Nice try! But my wallet was in my **back** pocket!” Johnny retrieves his wallet and begins to dodge Emette as he tries to snatch it from him. The two run about the store as Emette tries to take his wallet. Each time, Johnny would easily evade him. They try to avoid knocking things over, however, whether they were succeeding or not, they weren’t sure. They begin to laugh as they race through the store. Emette eventually disappears from Johnny’s line of sight, and the boy stops. He glances around, holding his wallet tightly to his chest. He doesn’t even notice the black haired boy sneaking up behind him. Emette slowly tiptoes over to the blonde one and stands silently before whispering in his ear.

“…Boo.” Johnny jumps and turns around, but Emette turns around with him and grabs him from behind. “I got you, Kid!” He begins to tickle the boy and Johnny cackles, dropping his wallet as he squirms. Emette then picks it up and opens it, revealing the entire five dollar bill that rested inside. Emette looks to the other with a cocked eyebrow.

“What? When I said I had money, I didn’t mean a lot.” Johnny says.

“I was just expecting you to have more, I guess.” Emette laughs, as he closes the wallet and puts it in his back pocket.

“Ah- ah-! No!” Johnny immediately leaps forward and Emette laughs, handing the wallet back to him.

“Just joking around, Kid. Now come on, let’s buy you that hat. With **my** money!”

 

The sun was beginning to set, and Johnny was snuggled back into the leather seat of Emette’s car as he drove him home. The top of the car was closed, since it had gotten so cold out. However, Johnny still looked out the window with the same feeling of blissfulness he got with the wind blowing through his hair. Today was undeniably one of the best days he had ever had. He begins to question if everything Emette had said to him was genuine, however. As he always did with people. However, he decides not to worry about it. There was really nothing for Emette to gain by pretending to care about him. Besides, he seemed like a genuine person. He couldn’t have been treating him well just to ensure that he wouldn’t turn him in, since he had been treating him this well ever since they first met in junior year. Maybe now he was doing a little bit more than he used to, but Johnny was almost sure it wasn’t for selfish gain. Emette wouldn’t have held him on the park bench like that if his feelings were faked, right? He wouldn’t have held his hand those times if he didn’t truly care for him. He wouldn’t have spared him if he didn’t really, certainly, honestly care for him. That was the big one. He knew Emette didn’t have a problem with killing people he didn’t care about. Or care about enough to keep them around. That thought gave Johnny comfort, in some ironic way, and assured him that the other boy did, in fact, care deeply about him. “Turn off your brights, goddammit.” Johnny hears Emette mumble. He sits up and notices that the car was lit up with a bright, yellow light coming from another car’s headlights. He squints and looks into the rearview mirror. That car looked familiar. He had seen it somewhere before.

“Emette, isn’t that the car we saw yesterday?” Johnny asks, secretly hoping he would say no. However…

“Yeah, it is. The fuck do they want?” Emette wonders out loud. Johnny can feel himself beginning to sweat anxiously. Where had he seen that car before? “They’re riding my bumper.” The black haired boy observes. “I’m gonna see who they are and what they want.”

“No! Are you crazy?!” Johnny shouts.

“Just stay in the car, Kid.” Emette says, as he pulls over on the side of the road. As expected, the car stops behind them as well. Johnny was sure he was going to have a panic attack as Emette parks the car and steps out. His hands rested in his pockets as he watches the men exit the car. Johnny ducks down, but watches out of the side-view mirror on Emette’s car door. What he can see is limited, but it’s better than nothing. Emette grins when he sees who exits the car. “For a while there, I thought you guys were afraid of me.” He remarks.

“We were. Until we realized there’s no way yous can take on all three of us at once! You and Carmichael.” Johnny’s heart sinks when he hears his surname in Justin’s tenor, city accented voice.

“I would disagree.” Emette says, as he grabs ahold of something in his left pocket. Johnny notices how the imprints of his hand in his pocket ball into a fist against the denim of his jeans, and he knows what he’s grabbing. The three boys don’t seem to notice, themselves however, as they creep closer, slouching like the thugs they were. Emette remains motionless; cool and collected as he always was. He doesn’t even bat an eye when Justin throws a punch his way. Instead, he ducks and retorts with an uppercut to the boys chin with his right fist. Johnny’s eyes widen. He felt as though he had blinked, and suddenly, Justin was faltering, with his hand adjusting his jaw back into place. Jacob and Cole were waiting for his queue, and Justin happily gives it to them after being punched.

“Get ‘im!” He shouts. The two greasers charge Emette, and he begins to fend them off using only his right hand. Cole tries to grab him, but Emette punches him hard in his fat gut. Jacob aims lower, and Emette elbows him in the temple. Meanwhile, Justin wanders around the car to Johnny’s side. The boy notices, and rushes to lock the door. He does so just in time to see the thug press up against the glass. “Let me in, Carmichael~!” He says in a sing-song voice. Johnny jumps back and considers calling out for Emette. He looks back to see Jacob and Cole closing in on him in a standoff. Before they can attack, however, Emette, quicker than lightening, pulls out and flicks open a long switchblade. The two immediately back off. Johnny was shocked to say the least. Last time Emette had only showed him a decently sized pocket knife. He had no idea that he carried a switchblade as well. His attention suddenly turns back to Justin, as he hears a loud pounding on the window. The man was throwing an elbow to the glass in an attempt to break it. Johnny’s heart and mind were racing, as he frantically tries to think of what to do. He didn’t have any weapons, and he sure as hell didn’t have any fighting skill. The closest he had to fighting skill was his football training. The boy wasn’t a much of a fighter, although, there were many time where he wished he was. Now was definitely one of those times.

“Get back in your car!” Justin suddenly stops as he hears the dark skinned boy’s voice shout something and the sound of fleeing footsteps hitting the pavement. Johnny turns his attention back to Emette, who he notices was walking around the car. Justin was looking near the rear of the car, waiting for Emette to come around that way. However, in the blink of an eye, Emette grabs the man from behind and starts to strangle him. Johnny can see his lips moving, but can’t hear what he’s saying from behind the glass of the car window. Emette grabs the man’s throat with his hand as he struggles. Justin begins to get loose, but freezes as soon as Emette brings the blade up to his chin. Johnny can see his breath coming out in fast puffs against the cold, black of night, only illuminated by the headlights of his own car. Emette can feel his adam’s apple graze against his hand, as he struggles to swallow a lump in his throat anxiously. He leans into his ear and whispers. “If you ever mess with Johnny again, I’ll cut that adam’s apple right out and shove it down what’s left of your throat. Then, I’ll leave you to choke on it. And I’ll do the same with your little friends over there. Savvy?” Justin nods as best he can. “This is your first warning, bitch. Next time, I won’t hesitate to slice your throat open. Now, I’ll give you ten seconds to get the fuck outta my sight.” He releases the man and begins counting down. “Ten…nine…eight…seven…” The greaser makes haste to his car. He pulls it out of park and peels out. Emette watches with amusement. He knows his plans to kill him would go differently if he were to ever get the chance. The black haired boy then discards his switchblade, and climbs back into his car.

 

Johnny is silent as they ride. Emette knew the boy was shaken, and gently places a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry about that, Kid.” He says.

“What’re **you** apologizing for? It was them who attacked **us**. You were just protecting me…and thank you for that…” Johnny replies in a small voice.

“Of course, Kid. I’ll always protect you.”

“Kind of ironic, isn’t it?” The blonde boy mutters. “A serial killer protecting someone he should’ve killed a while ago?” Emette remains silent for a moment as he digests the boy’s words. He could tell he was already messing this guy up. He wonders if this situation would’ve been any different if Johnny didn’t know he was a serial killer.

“I guess I still feel guilty for traumatizing you when you first found out my secret.” The black haired boy admits. Johnny leans his head against the window of the car.

“It’s not really your fault. You were just doing what you had to do. If I hadn’t gone in there, none of this would be happening.” Emette displays a soft, but remorseful expression. He opens his mouth to say something, but Johnny speaks before he can. “But…if I hadn’t found out your secret, I wouldn’t feel this close to you.” Emette’s eyebrows perk up in surprise at the boy’s words. He looks over to see him smiling softly, despite his eyes looking rather dead. “It’s funny, but…something about you showing me how cruel you can be, then turning around and doing the exact opposite with me, lets me get a feel for how much you really care about me. You spared me, after all. I’ve **got** to mean something to you if you didn’t kill me. And it shows how much you trust me. So, in a way, I’m grateful for what happened. Because now I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that every kind thing you do for me, and every nice word you say, is genuine. And your feelings are genuine. I’ve never been so sure and so comfortable with anyone in my life. And if it weren’t for me discovering you were a serial killer, I would never feel this way towards you.” Johnny turns to look at Emette. “I really do like you, Emette. I don’t know how to describe it. You know I’m not good with words. But, I like you more than anyone. It must be so weird to hear this from another guy, eheh…” The boy laughs. Emette smiles a bit as well, but begins to feel a little disheartened at the other boy’s wording in that last sentence. “Thanks again for protecting me from Justin and his gang. Hopefully now they won’t try anything else. Maybe they’ll leave me alone at school, too from now on.”

“Well, if they ever do anything to ya when I’m not there, just tell me, and I’ll give ‘em a lashing they won’t forget!” Emette grins at the boy and Johnny laughs.

“I’ll be sure to do that.” Before they know it, both of them had arrived at Johnny’s house. The blonde boy gets out and waves at Emette from his front porch as he drives off. He then sighs with content and enters his house, reflecting on what happened on the park bench. He finds himself longing for another situation like that; where he’s with alone Emette and has time to just relax in his embrace like he never had with anyone else before. He feels warm and fuzzy just thinking about it. He must’ve been out longer than he had originally thought, as everyone had already gone to bed, it seemed. He looks at the clock on the wall. 11:35. Yeah, it was late alright. Deciding he wasn’t hungry, Johnny doesn’t check the fridge for the dinner his mother had most likely wrapped up for him and instead heads on up to his room. He takes off everything but his shirt and his boxers and slips into bed. He sets his alarm for his usual time and snuggles up under the covers. He continues to recall the situation on the bench and hums as the warm feeling washes over him once more. He’s asleep in no time.

 

When Emette arrives home, he takes off his shoes and jacket. He was feeling much more conflicted than Johnny was, that was for sure. What the boy was saying to him in the car confused him. _“I really do like you, Emette. It must be so weird to hear this from another guy, eheh…”_ Johnny’s words ring out in Emette’s head, and he begins to feel frustrated. Was Johnny just naïve and didn’t understand what he was feeling? Or did he really only think of him as a friend? The dark skinned boy wasn’t sure why he felt so peeved by the other man’s words. He always thought of himself as a man who could handle rejection easily. After all, it had been that way for years. But something about not knowing Johnny’s true feelings was bringing out his envious side. He huffs and makes his way downstairs to ready himself for bed. He brushes his teeth and washes out his hair. He looks at his reflection in the mirror; his hair dripping wet and clinging to his furrowed brow. _“How could anyone love a brute like me?”_ He thinks to himself.

 _“Be happy. You’re growing up faster than anyone else your age.”_ Someone else’s voice worms its way into his head suddenly, and he begins to feel ill.

“No.” He says out loud. “Not tonight.” He splashes some cold water onto his face and heads into his room. He sits down on his bed, taking the box of cigarettes and his lighter from off of his nightstand. With each long drag, he thinks of Johnny. _“Don’t become obsessive.”_ He says to himself. _“These feelings will pass. They always do.”_ The boy finishes his smoke before too long and sits on his bed; pondering.

 _“You’re special to me. You’re like no one else.”_ That voice once again says.

“Stop it.” Emette begs his intrusive thoughts. He decides to have another smoke before shutting off his lamp and curling up under his covers. _“I want the best for Johnny. No matter what.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How long must Emette be stuck in friendzone purgatory??  
> You'll find out later, lol. I was debating on naming this chapter, "Friendzoned," as a joke, but I'm a professional person (by about 10%). I bet y'all have A LOT of questions about the last scene, and all of your questions will be answered eventually! Not for a while, though, probably. I'm waiting for a little bit to get to that point. Anyway, as always, thank you homies for reading, and I hope you'll stick around for more!


	8. Downpour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen voice: "Cash me outside how bou dah?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings:  
> Ableism, C-slur, implied abuse.
> 
> I am so sorry this took so long. Life has been absolute hell for me recently. A LOT goes on in this chapter. We're getting to the point in Killer Idol where more characters are being introduced, so more shit is going to be going on. Of course, this chapter is also primarily exposition for some of these characters, but I don't plan on having another chapter with this much stuff happening at once. So, if it's a lot to take in, I apologize. But I did try my hardest on this chapter. If it's lacking in anything, blame my shit week, lol.

“Wake up! Emette wake up!” The sound of a familiar voice and the feeling of being shaken awakens Emette from his slumber. His eyes flutter open and he slowly rolls over to see his little sister, Sarah staring down at him. He feels the hard ground beneath him, knowing for a fact that this is not where he had fallen asleep. He sits up and cracks his stiff back. The sights of his bathroom fill his gaze as he looks around. He sighs and stands up to flush his vomit from the other night, feeling a bit lightheaded as he does so. Sarah watches him do so with an expression that was only mildly irritated compared to how she usually reacted to inconveniences involving her brother. She knew about Emette’s incidents and why they happened, therefore she was more lenient if they were to vex her in any way. “Hurry, we only have like, thirty-something minutes before we have to be leaving.” Sarah informs. Emette nods, still trying to get awake. Once the girl leaves, he looks at himself in the mirror, thinking about how much of a mess he is, before brushing his teeth. Afterwards, he splashes some cold water on his face, and slicks his hair up into a pompadour, deciding that it would be too much trouble to take a shower. He looks at himself one last time.

 _“You’re such a mess. Get over this already.”_ He tells himself before exiting the bathroom and heading upstairs. He eats breakfast as quickly as possible without choking, making sure he made time for a quick smoke break before he had to leave.

“Emette, would you drive Sarah to school today, please? Katherine and Katy said that they won’t be able to come, and you know how much she hates riding the bus.” His mother asks. Emette, half awake, nods.

“Yeah, uh huh…I’ll take ‘er.” He mumbles with bites of bagel shoved into his cheeks. After eating, he retrieves a pack of smokes and a lighter from the kitchen counter. They were most likely his father’s, but he had already left for work, so he wouldn’t notice him taking a cig and borrowing his lighter. Sarah was annoyed with him taking a smoke break when they had so little time left to get to school. However, she refrains from saying anything. She pities him after seeing him on the bathroom floor this morning. Outside, the boy takes a long, deep drag off his cigarette and exhales the smoke in a heavy sigh. He tries to brighten himself up a bit by thinking about the good things that may happen today. He’d get to see Johnny again, that was definitely a plus. Other than that, however, Emette can think of nothing else. A smile curls up on his lips when he thinks of the other boy and how great he felt around him. He’d spend all his time with him if he could. If only he knew how Johnny felt about him.

 

Emette snuffs out his cigarette in an ashtray before heading back inside. He smiles at Sarah, who was reading one of her magazines. “Ready to go, Sarbear?” He asks. Sarah huffs at the nickname and closes her magazine. She stands up and stretches out her back. Emette walks by and pokes her exposed belly. “Boop.”

“Ah! Quit it!” The girls covers her stomach and Emette laughs as he throws on his jacket and steps into his sneakers. The two grab their book bags and make haste to Emette’s car. “You’d better keep the top up, I spent a long time fixing my hair this morning.” Sarah says.

“You’re no fun.” The boy jests, as he starts up the car and pulls out of the driveway. He immediately begins speeding out of the neighborhood. Sarah grips the door handle.

“Jesus Christ, Emette! Slow down, would ya!” She growls.

“Well, you wanna be on time, right?”

“We wouldn’t be running late if you hadn’t passed out on the floor this morning!” The girl shouts, immediately regretting it when the car slows down significantly and Emette’s expression dulls. “Emette, I didn’t mean-…”

“Nah, it’s alright. You’re right, I should be over this by now.”

“…But…you can’t control it. It’s not your fault…” Emette shrugs.

“I guess not. Just think that maybe if I tried harder, I could avoid passing out and get back into my bed, at least…” He looks straight ahead in a daze. Sarah gazes down at her knees silently for a moment.

“It hasn’t been that long since it happened, Emette.”

“I know…I want it to be over with just as much as you do, but…I don’t think that’s gonna happen anytime soon, unfortunately.” Sarah looks outside her window as they pass through town. God, how she hated her big mouth. If only she weren’t so hasty.

“Do you feel safer now that we’ve moved away from the city?” She asks. The boy nods.

“Yeah. Hopefully we won’t have to move again. I really like it here…and I don’t know what Johnny would do without me, ha ha.” He laughs, despite feeling a tinge of fear thinking about having to leave Johnny behind. He would be devastated, and so would Emette. Not only because he’d be losing a best friend and potential significant other, but also because of the fact that he wouldn’t be around to make sure Johnny didn’t snitch. As much as he loved Johnny, he still didn’t trust him completely to keep quiet.

“Are you and Johnny like…gay, or something?” Sarah asks. Emette laughs once more.

“Not yet, but maybe someday!” His expression once again turns dimmer. “Maybe someday…” He begins to question his feelings again. Was this really love? Or was this another one of his temporary infatuations? He couldn’t imagine Johnny wanting to have sex with him (at least not at their current level of friendship) so there really wasn’t a way to truly test if these feelings were genuine or not. Sarah crosses her arms.

“It’s not like I’m judgin’ ya, or anything…” She claims.

“Really, now? Do you have a girlfriend?” Emette jokes. Sarah’s cheeks darken and she shoves him.

“No way! I’m not into girls!” Emette chuckles.

“That’s a shame. You and Katherine would make a good couple!” The girl covers her face.

“Ew! Barf me out, Emette!” The boy cackles as they pull into the school parking lot. Flustered, Sarah grabs her backpack and slams the car door in a huff. After grabbing his, Emette wanders over to her.

“Hey.” He says. She turns around, wearing a pout on her face.

“What?” Emette pulls her into a hug.

“I love you.” The girls reluctantly hugs him back for maybe a second or two before pulling away.

“Yeah, yeah, I love you too.” She says, before walking off ahead of the boy.

“Have a good day at school!” Emette shouts.

“Whatever!” The girl shouts back. Emette smiles as he watches her walk, before making his way into the school building, himself.

 

Johnny stands near the entrance of the school building, talking to Ulysses. The two had bumped into each other earlier that morning and had been talking to each other ever since. “So, let me get this straight. You and Emette were sitting on a bench in the park…cuddling?” Ulysses gives the smaller boy a weird look. Johnny nods.

“Uh huh! Kind of strange how two guy friends were cuddling together, right? I guess that’s just how **real** mine and Emette’s friendship is!” Ulysses stares at him for a moment before bursting into laughter. Johnny quirks a brow quizzically.

“What’s so funny?” He asks. The bigger boy cackles until his sides hurt, then simmers down, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes.

“Nothing, it’s just that I think you two may be a little closer than just friends now.” He claims. Johnny cocks his head to the side like a confused puppy.

“You mean like… **best** friends?” Ulysses once again begins laughing and Johnny huffs. “Come on, man! What am I saying that could possibly be so hilarious that you burst into laughter every time I say something?!” Ulysses once again calms down, panting a bit as he does so.

“No, I meant like **boy** friends! You know, like you’re going with him.” Johnny’s eyes widen and his cheeks turn a deep red. There’s no way he and Emette were going together. He wasn’t even gay! He thinks. Was he gay?

“N-No way, man! We’re just two friends being affectionate! You can’t tell me **every** guy in the world who cuddles with his best buddy is gay! That’s preposterous!” Johnny argues. Ulysses rubs the back of his neck.

“Well…I guess you’re right about that. But still, it’s just not something guys typically do.”

“Bullshit! I saw you and Tyrese cuddle a little bit the other day!”

“That wasn't cuddling! That was, like-...” Ulysses quickly shakes his head. “Never mind. You’re right, I guess.” Before Johnny can open his mouth to say anything else, Emette walks over and places a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, Kid! I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” He asks.

“Emette! Tell Ulysses that what happened on the park bench yesterday was just something between two friends!” Johnny says.

“Wait. You actually told him?” Emette gives the boy a surprised look. Johnny stares at him.

“Huh? Yeah. Was I not supposed to?” Emette’s expression becomes dull once again and he looks to Ulysses.

“It was nothing like that. It was just a friendly gesture.” He says in a low, noticeably upset tone. Ulysses and Johnny pick up on this and both give him concerned looks as he begins to walk away.

“Emette…” Johnny says, trying to follow him.

“See you around, Kid.” Emette mumbles as he is swallowed by the sea of students. Johnny looks up to the taller boy.

“I think maybe that was something you should’ve kept to yourself.” Ulysses says. The smaller boy takes off his hat and stares at it.

 _“I wanna get you something special! Something that you’ll look at in twenty years and say, ‘hey, Emette bought me that when we went on our first date!’”_ Emette’s voice rings out in the boy’s head. Maybe Emette was trying to tell him something with all the jokes he made about them dating, and all the pet names he gave him that one time. Did Emette really think of him as a boyfriend?

“Yeah…” He mutters. “Maybe.” The boy throws his hat back on and turns the bill around to the back once more. “I’m gonna go find Emette and apologize.”

 

What did Emette expect? He should’ve known that Johnny wouldn’t think of him any differently than before. Still, it bothered him knowing that there was no chance of him getting together with Johnny unless Johnny decided he wanted to date him all of a sudden; which was most likely never going to happen. The way the boy worded it; _“Tell Ulysses that what happened on the park bench yesterday was just something between two friends!”_ and the fact that he told Ulysses at all showed that he still thought of him as a friend. Emette felt like punching something. Why couldn’t he handle this rejection? Maybe it was because this was the perfect opportunity under the perfect conditions for him to be in a relationship with somebody. Somebody who he thought he went perfectly with. He wasn’t sure where he was walking to. He probably didn’t even have a destination at all. Still, it helped to walk around aimlessly a bit to try and let off some this steam. It wouldn’t be too much longer until class started, so he decides to head back towards his hall. His head had cleared a bit since he first began his walk. He would probably be okay to talk to Johnny without feeling too upset now. It was a foolish move of him to show his emotions that clearly to begin with. Then again, he starts to question if it would have been controllable at all. “Hey, Emette!” Emette suddenly hears a cheerful, feminine voice from behind him. He stops and turns around to see a girl walking up to him. She was shorter and had long, straight, black hair and light brown skin. Her eyes were thin and dark brown. She had long eyelashes and beautiful lips. Emette vaguely remembers kissing those lips at one point in his life. She looks absolutely stunning, Emette thinks. Despite his foul mood, he can’t help but smile at her.

“Hey, Mei.” He greets in a friendly tone. She returns his smile and gazes up at him.

“I haven’t talked to you in a while. How have you been?”

“Ah, I’ve been pretty good, I suppose. Heh heh.” Emette laughs nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. Mei’s smile grows.

“That’s good! You always did find reasons to smile.” The boy only chuckles in response. If only she had known him for a bit longer. Johnny eventually finds his way to the hallway and spots Emette. He begins to call out to him until he notices he was talking to someone. Their body was blocked by Emette’s though. Johnny figures it was one of his many acquaintances and decides he wouldn’t be bothering him by squeezing his way into the conversation. Or pulling Emette out of it, whichever came first. He makes his way over to the boy and hears the giggling of a girl mixed with Emette’s deep, masculine chuckle. The blonde boy finds this a little strange. He hadn’t seen Emette talk to any girls in school since senior year started. He knew Emette liked girls and had dated them before. That was also a factor that lead Johnny to the assumption that their cuddling was friendly, since he knew Emette liked girls. Does he like men, too? Johnny had so many questions running around in his head at once that he hardly realizes he was staring at the two as they talk. They both turn their heads to look at him.

“Hey, Kid!” Emette says with a grin. Johnny snaps out of his stupor.

“Oh. Hey, Emette. I, uh wanted to-…”

“Have I ever introduced you to Mei before?” The dark skinned boy interrupts Johnny before he can apologize. Johnny looks to the girl briefly, then back to Emette.

“Uh…no.”

“Well, here she is!” Mei waves at Johnny, who reluctantly waves back, smiling meekly. He was never good at talking to girls his age. He was great with kids and sometimes with adult women, but teenage girls? Bleh. Nope. “Mei, this is Johnny. He’s one of my best friends.”

“Nice to meet you, Johnny! I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you new?”

“Eh…no. I just…don’t talk to a lot of people I guess…” Johnny’s eyes are on everything except the girl as he speaks. He had a bad habit of not keeping straight eye contact for more than a few seconds when he spoke. It gets better the more he gets to know people, generally. However, this time it was a little more extreme than he wanted it to be. For some reason, he just didn’t want to look at her at all. Mei finds this a little odd and looks up to Emette, silently asking him what Johnny was doing. Emette seems to get the hint and laughs.

“He’s just nervous is all, don’t worry.” Perhaps a little more than nervous, Johnny thinks. Something about this situation wasn’t right. Mei nods.

“That’s okay! To be fair, I’m a bit nervous, too. It feels like I haven’t talked to you in ages since we broke up.” Johnny’s eyes shoot wide open.

“Broke up?” He gazes at Emette. “You two dated?” The black haired boy nods.

“Yep! Dated for about three months when I first transferred. Best three months of my life!” He looks back to the girl who giggles.

“It was a pretty good three months for me, as well. I think Emette is the smartest, sweetest man I’ve ever met!” Emette looks into the girls eyes.

“Well, I don’t think any girl could ever be sweeter than you~”

“Oh, stop!” Mei chuckles and Emette retorts with a grin at her response. Johnny watches the two and lowers his eyebrows. Something about how they were talking to each other was making him upset. Mainly all the sweet talk. Was it just gross, or was it something else? Johnny wonders. The boy crosses his arms.

“Yeah, well if you liked each other so much why did you break up?” He grumbles. Emette notices him getting frustrated and a spark of hope ignites within him. Was he getting…jealous?

“Well…” Mei begins, pausing to think for a moment. “I guess we just didn’t really see eye to eye on a lot of things.” Emette’s grin turns devious as he gets an idea.

“Yeah. I’d do it all over again, though.” He claims, once again locking eyes with Mei. She puts her hands on her hips.

“Is that a hint, Em?”

 _“Em? She didn’t finish his entire name! Is that a pet name, or did she have a sudden stroke? Please tell me it was a stroke.”_ Johnny thinks to himself as he begins to grit his teeth. _“Why is this bothering me?”_

“Mmmmaybe!” Emette says. Johnny nearly loses it.

“You can’t-! I-I mean…you wouldn’t **really** date someone you already broke up with, would you?” The taller boy shrugs.

“I don’t know. Maybe we just needed some time. What say you, Mei?” Johnny now stares at the girl intensely. He was looking rather menacing, with wild eyes and a furrowed brow.

“Hmmm…” Mei begins thinking. She glances over at Johnny and sees his gaze that was on the borderline of being a hateful glare. She begins to sweat nervously at the look. “…aaaactually, I’m interested in someone else right now. Sorry, Em.” She lies. Johnny’s looks seems to fade slightly upon hearing this.

“Aw. That’s alright. I’m interested in some other people, myself.” Emette claims.

 _“People?!”_ Johnny thinks to himself. _“I seriously hope one of those people is me.”_ He catches himself as soon as he thinks this and blushes. _“Wait, what? Did I **really** mean that? Holy shit, Ulysses was right! We **are** gay!”_

 

After Emette and Mei say goodbye, the bell rings and the two boys head to class. Emette had found a new sense of confidence, and Johnny had begun to question himself. Was he really gay? It would explain why he’s never been interested in dating a single girl in his entire life. He did blush when Mrs. Wilkes asked if he and Emette were dating that one time, though. However, he had never shown interest in boys, either. Was it **just** Emette? It couldn’t be **just** Emette. Surely this all had a more rational explanation, right? After all, he had never been physically attracted to a male body. Then again, he’d never been physically attracted to a female body, either. That he knew of, anyway. Had his feelings for his idol this entire time been love instead of admiration? What did love even feel like? The irrational side of his brain figured this would be a stupid time to ask Emette, so, “Hey Emette, what does love feel like?” Emette quirks a brow. **_“You fucking idiot why did you ask that?!”_**

“Why?”

“Well, it’s just I’ve never dated or been in love before. So, I thought I’d ask you, since I know you have experience.” Emette flashes a grin at the boy, who blushes for some reason.

“That’s a little hard to describe. I guess it kind of depends on who you are. For me, I start wanting to be around them more. I find out how much I like talking to them, and realize how **alive** they make me feel. I feel captivated and want to make them happy and keep them safe. Some people experience love differently, however. The most common symptoms of the virus known as ‘love’ are butterflies in your stomach, a fast heartbeat, and often times blush at the sight or thought of them.”

“B-Blush, huh?” Johnny looks straight ahead for a moment. He sure did blush a lot around the other. Come to think of it, he had felt his heart beat faster around the other boy, as well. Like the time they were in the ice cream shop and Emette held his hand.

“Yep! Personally, I don’t blush a lot. I’m usually the one making other people blush, ha ha.” The black haired boy laughs. Johnny laughs uneasily as well. All his feelings were starting to sound a lot like love, now.

“This is all a lot to handle…” Johnny says absentmindedly. Emette stops smiling and looks at the boy.

“What’s too much to handle? Do you want me to slow down?”

“Huh? N-No! It’s fine! Ahaha! Aaa...” Johnny quickly denies as they both enter the classroom. They take their seats and Johnny is too distracted by his own thoughts to take notes properly until the end of class.

 

_(Implied abuse in this paragraph)_

Once lunch time rolls around, Johnny begins to head out to the bleachers, but stops at the double doors when he notices it was raining outside. There was no way the guys were sitting out there in this weather. Maybe they were sitting at one of the tables? Johnny wanders back into the commons area and glances around for any of his teammates. “Hey, Johnny!” He hears Tyrese’s voice call out to him, and he searches before he sees the boy’s large arms waving to him. He smiles and heads over to the table. There was a seat saved just for him, and he gladly takes it. “Emette wanted to make sure I saved you a seat next to him.” Tyrese informs. Johnny’s cheeks turn pink.

“O-Oh, ha ha…how nice of him!” Johnny looks up to see Ulysses staring at him with a poorly repressed smile on his face; lips pursed and curled up the sides of his cheeks. Johnny lowers his brow in an unamused expression, before opening his lunchbox to unpack his lunch.

“I wonder where Stephen went.” Tyrese says.

“Stephen’s sitting with us?” Johnny asks, looking up to the taller boy in surprise. He wasn’t expecting him to want to sit with them since he and Emette would be there. Tyrese nods.

“Yeah! He decided he would sit with us today since his usual group of buddies kind of…kicked him out, so to speak.”

“Kicked him out? What did he do?”

“Ah…well…you know how bad his temper is.” Tyrese dismisses. Johnny was curious to know more, but decided it was better not to pry. It was obvious the other boy didn’t want to talk about it for whatever reason. Just then, Johnny hears familiar laughter and his heart drops to his stomach. He peeks out from behind the pillar their table was sitting against and sees Stephen standing face to face with Justin and his gang. He decides, against his better judgement, to eavesdrop on them. Was Stephen friends with these guys or something? There was no way. He listens intently to their words and his original assumption is immediately proven incorrect.

“What’s wrong, trailer trash? Got nothing to say?” Justin torments. Stephen stares at him angrily.

“I ain’t got nothin’ to say to **you** , ya hood.”

“What’d you call me?”

“You heard me. Now go fuck with someone else.” Stephen turns around to leave, but the boys block his path.

“Come on now, Stephen. We used to be buddies. What happened?”

“I got busy and gained some common sense, now leave me alone.” The redneck tries to walk around them, but once again, they don’t allow him. He was beginning to get irritated.

“Why don’t you have a lunch, Stephen?” Justin asks, despite knowing the answer.

“You know why I ain’t got a lunch.”

“Couldn’t even bring anything from home, huh? Did ya run out of food stamps, or something? You know we have a canned food drive here for poor students, right?”

“I ain’t poor! We just ain’t got a lot of money fer food! Now fuck off!”

“You’d think someone who owns a farm would have more access to food.” Jacob comments.

“We gotta sell some stuff, too, er else we wouldn’t have no money at all, dipshit!” Ulysses and Tyrese hear Stephen’s shouting and immediately stop their conversation. They peek out from behind the pillar to see the hick and the group of boys making fun of him. Tyrese sighs.

“There they go again, bagging on Stephen.” Ulysses lowers his brow slightly.

“I can’t stand them.” He says quietly. Johnny was baffled, to say the least. Never in a million years did he expect Justin’s gang, who was terrified of Emette at first, to pick on Stephen; a rough and tumble asshole who yells and threatens everybody. Maybe that was a reason to make fun of him, though. Emette didn’t have a hard time doing it, after all. Ulysses stands up. “I’m gonna go say something to them.”

“No! Don’t!” Tyrese protests.

“I’ll be fine.” The taller blonde boy assures, as he makes his way over the Stephen. He stands behind him and glares softly down at the three boys. They all begin to laugh, but Ulysses’ expression doesn’t change.

“Now I **know** you’re not going to do anything!” Justin says.

“Leave Stephen alone.” The larger boy demands in a calm but stern voice.

“Or what, Daddy Issues? Gonna get your old man to come beat us up?”

“He sure doesn’t seem to have a problem beating up teenagers!” Jacob says. They all laugh once again. Ulysses looks away, his expression softening a bit. Stephen growls.

“Leave ‘im the fuck alone, ya slums!” Justin scowls at him and gets in his face.

“Or what? You low-class gritter?” Stephen returns his menacing glare with fiery eyes. “You talk a lot of shit for someone who doesn’t do anything.”

“Meet me outside of school, and I’ll make good on my promises.”

“Woah! What kind of congregation is this?” Justin looks up and Stephen and Ulysses turn around when they hear a voice interrupt them. Justin immediately backs up with Jacob and Cole following. “This is a strange communion. I never expected you three to be talking to my buddies. You ‘joking around’ with them like you were with Johnny a few days ago?” Emette asks. The clique doesn’t even respond. They simply back up before turning around and bolting. Emette chuckles quietly and takes his seat next to Johnny at the table. Stephen looks up to Ulysses’ discouraged expression, but doesn’t say anything. He was worried about the other, but never knew the right words to say to console people. Instead, he just takes his seat on the other side of Johnny. Tyrese places a hand on Ulysses’ shoulder when he sits down.

“I should’ve known better…” He mumbles.

“It’s not your fault. They’re just jerks.” Tyrese assures. “Did they mention your dad?” Ulysses nods silently. Tyrese scowls at the thought of it. He wanted to give them what for so bad. “You okay, Stephen?” He asks the hick.

“Yeah, they don’t bother me none. I ain’t worried about ‘em.” The redneck replies. Johnny stares down at his food sullenly.

“They pick on you too, huh?” He mutters to either Stephen or Ulysses. The bigger blonde doesn’t reply. Stephen glances at the smaller boy for a moment before looking back down to his hands that were resting on the table.

“Yeah.” Is his only reply. The whole table is silent for a while. Ulysses only stares down at his food; not eating anything at all. Stephen rests his head in one of his hands, his eyes fixated on nothing in particular. Emette hates awkward silence, and decides to be the first person to break it.

“You guys ever flicked peas off your spoons?” He asks. Everyone looks at him.

“Don’t do anything stupid.” Tyrese says.

“I only flick peas at people I don’t like! Don’t worry!” He scours the lunchroom for a target. “Aha! There’s Heather! I hate that betty!” He says, as he loads his spoon with a single pea and aims for her. Johnny sits up and watches him closely.

“Emette. Don’t.” Ulysses pleads. The black haired boy ignores him and flicks the pea at the girl. It lands in her hair and Emette and Johnny both start laughing. Ulysses displays an uncomfortable expression. Stephen notices and scowls at the two. Emette could care less as he loads another pea and flings it at another target. It misses and Emette snaps his fingers.

“Damn. Worth another try, though!”

“Emette, please.” Ulysses begs. Emette once again pays him no mind and flicks another one. And another one.

“Fuckin’ quit it!” Stephen growls.

“Aw, come on! It’s fun! Tyrese, try it!” The black haired boy says. Tyrese shakes his head.

“You’re gonna hit someone-…” Before he can finish his sentence, a pea hits Ulysses on the forehead and Emette freezes. Ulysses slams his hands on the table and wipes the squashed vegetable off his forehead before storming off. Tyrese and Stephen glower at him.

“Nice goin’, asshole.” Stephen grumbles. Emette looks down dejectedly and begins poking at his food with his spoon. Johnny can feel the tense atmosphere and begins to consider leaving, himself.

 

After lunch, everyone heads back to class. Study hall for Johnny, Tyrese, and Ulysses, and chemistry for Stephen and Emette. Tyrese had a feeling that Ulysses had already made it to their classroom, so decides to head straight there. He arrives through the open door and spots the boy sitting alone and reading a book. He takes a seat next to him but remains silent. The blonde boy glances at him out of the corner of his eye before turning his attention back to his book. Tyrese searches for the book’s title on one of the pages. “Moby Dick, huh? Which class is that for?” He asks. Ulysses is silent for a moment, trying to muster up the energy to talk.

“None. I’m just reading it.” He finally informs.

“Oh, nice. How are you liking it so far?” The blonde boy shrugs.

“It’s okay, I guess. Not exactly invigorating and kind of hard to understand. You know I’m not all that smart.” Tyrese furrows his brow in a concerned expression.

“You’re smart. You just have trouble comprehending stuff, is all. Moby Dick is kind of a hard read for certain people.”

“Not you, though. You’re the smartest guy I know, I think. You read The Odyssey twice, right? You and your sister?”

“Actually, Katy read it three times. It’s one of her favorite books.” Tyrese laughs. Ulysses doesn’t seem to find any humor in it, however. The dark skinned boy sighs. “Listen, just because I read The Odyssey twice doesn’t make me any smarter than you. It just means I like reading a lot. You like reading too, right?”

“Sorta. It’s just a matter of finding the right book. And it takes me months to finish one. It only takes you and Katy a few weeks.” Tyrese crosses his arms.

“Come on, now. Quit that. I know plenty of smart people who don’t read at all unless they have to.”

“Yeah? Like who?”

"Stephen never reads unless it’s for class. He has all A’s right now.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m not Stephen, though. I have all B’s and a few C’s. My dad hates that about me. About how I’m not as smart as he wants me to be.”

“Screw your dad! It’s not your fault that he has extremely high expectations for you.” Tyrese begins to raise his voice, and the larger boy shrinks a bit.

“Yeah, I know. It is my fault that I can’t meet them, though.” He assumes. The dark skinned boy pinches the bridge of his big, round nose with his chubby fingers out of frustration. It was really hard to get Ulysses out of his low moods sometimes.

“Ulysses, listen. You can’t comprehend things like other people can, but that’s fine. It doesn’t make you dumb. At least you try! Dumb people don’t try! Stop believing your dad when he says you’re stupid. He’s doing it to make you feel bad because he thinks that’ll make you try harder.” Tyrese shakes his head. “I never understood that mindset; putting people down because you think it’ll make them want to do better.”

“It’s a drill sergeant thing. They put you down and it’s supposed to make you do better in order to meet the standards they set for you. With my dad I think he assumes that it’ll make me want his respect and praise. Which I don’t.”

“That’s just pure emotional manipulation! I hate parents that do that.”

“Well, there’s nothing I can do about it. Might as well just take it until I leave for college.” Tyrese rests his head on his hand. Normally he’d make a joke about anything to help cheer Ulysses up, but there was nothing humorous about emotional abuse.

“Are you upset about what Emette did, too?” He asks. Ulysses scoffs.

“Yeah. He could’ve gotten in a lot of trouble. Or hit the wrong person. Flicking peas at people is a stupid thing to do.”

“Well, at least you’re not **that** kind of stupid. Emette stupid, I mean.” Tyrese jokes. “I think stupidity is more than just not understanding something. It’s doing irrational things and not thinking about the outcome. Stupidity doesn’t **try** to understand, it just does what it wants without thinking. It’s rash. And you’re not rash at all.” Ulysses smiles softly.

“Thanks, Ty.” Tyrese grins and pats the other boy’s back.

“No problem! Hey, by the way, you wanna come over after school to, ‘work on homework?’ I have a feeling you won’t wanna be around your dad since report cards are being handed out today.”

“Yeah. I might as well. Last time I hid my grades from him, he found out, and…it wasn’t pretty. It’s safer just to show him and take the loud lecture and leave. He’ll let me come over if it’s for homework. He knows how smart you are. I think that’s why he lets us hang out so much, because he thinks you’ll rub off on me.” Ulysses and Tyrese laugh. The bell soon rings and the two head to their next class together. They both had a lot of the same classes with each other. Ulysses was feeling a lot better now that he had talked to Tyrese. He always managed to cheer him up somehow.

 

_(Ableism in this paragraph)_

Johnny waits for Emette at the double doors like he usually did, preparing his umbrella since it was still raining outside. He usually had a small one hanging from his backpack just in case. When he sees Emette approaching him, he smiles. Emette’s smile seemed a bit more lethargic, however, and disappears quickly. Johnny takes notice and frowns. He knew Emette had been acting weird all day, and wasn’t sure why. Maybe he’d ask. Before he can, however, Emette speaks. “I won’t be able to drive you home today, Kid. Sorry about that.” Johnny displays a confused look.

“Huh? Why?”

“I have somewhere to go right after school, and I doubt you’ll wanna come.” Johnny looks down.

“Oh. O-Okay. I can walk home.” Emette looks upon his disappointed face and feels his heart sink a little. He always looked like a wounded puppy when he was sad. The taller boy takes his hat off and ruffles his hair, giving him a gentle smile.

“I’m gonna call you tonight, though. Don’t worry, Kid.” He says. Johnny returns the smile and takes his hat back, placing it on his head once more.

“Alright. See ya around.” Emette waves as heads out of the building, not even shielding himself from the elements as he leaves. Johnny watches him walk away with a worried expression. Why was Emette acting so weird? As soon as the other boy gets in his car, Johnny turns around to head out on another side of the school that was closer to the path he took home, Emette on his mind the entire time. He was more than a little concerned about him. He wanted to know what was bothering him so that maybe he can make him feel better. After all, Emette had made him feel better multiple times recently. Never had Johnny ever found someone who didn’t call him weird or crazy for having panic attacks or behaving differently from other people. As he exits a door near the side of the school, he notices someone familiar standing on the sidewalk. He was waiting to cross to the other side of the road. It was Stephen. He had no umbrella and was getting soaked. Johnny could feel a tinge of pity tug at his heart. Poor Stephen. Johnny decides that this would be a good time to try and get to know him better. Maybe he’ll appreciate it if Johnny holds the umbrella over his head for a little while. The boy begins to walk over to him with a hopeful attitude. Johnny holds the umbrella up over Stephen’s head. The taller boy takes notice of how the rain is no longer wetting his body, coupled with the pattering sound of raindrops hitting nylon. He looks to his left to see the blonde boy smiling up at him with his bright blue eyes. Stephen scowls and swiftly crosses the street after maneuvering under the umbrella. “Hey! Wait up!” Johnny shouts as he quickly follows suit after the other. Stephen only walks faster at the sound of the smaller one’s voice. He had no intentions on slowing down as soon as he crossed over. Johnny manages to catch up eventually and continues to hold the umbrella over the man’s head. Stephen growls and stops walking after a few minutes of this.

“Why’re you followin’ me?!” He shouts.

“I just didn’t want you walking home in the rain without an umbrella.” Johnny replies.

“Don’t you got somewhere to be?” Stephen asks. Johnny shakes his head.

“Nah, I’ve got time!” Johnny once again offers a friendly smile to the other. However, his welcoming expression is only met with a cold, wet glare from the taller man.

“Go home, Johnny.” Stephen once again slips under the nylon and continues his trek, fully exposed to the elements. Johnny displays a dejected look. However, it soon fades as he resumes following Stephen. He stands beside him, this time only holding the umbrella over his own head.

“I just thought you might be getting a little cold in the rain, is all.”

“I don’t care.” Stephen once again replies with an impolite tone. The two walk silently for a moment as Johnny begins to try and think of a way to make casual conversation.

“Why are you walking home in the rain? I thought you had a car?” The blonde one asks.

“My car’s broken down and I ain’t got no one to take me home.” Stephen reluctantly replies.

“Oh…that sucks.” Johnny remarks.

“No fuckin’ kiddin’.” The hick snarls. Johnny takes his chances with holding the umbrella over the man’s head again. Stephen grits his teeth, but chooses not to say anything. He didn’t care if he got wet or not, but he knew Johnny was going to insist on keeping the umbrella over his head. After a while of walking in silence, Johnny notices that he no longer feels raindrops hitting him. He sees the sun shining on the road through the clouds and smiles.

“Hey! It stopped raining!” He chimes.

“Good! Now ya can go home, now that yer job of keepin’ me dry is done!” Stephen growls. Johnny folds his umbrella, a little disappointed. Stephen can see the boy’s emotions in his face and only becomes more irritated.

“How about I just walk you home?” Johnny suggests. His suggestion is almost immediately met with a strong,

“No.” From the other. “What is yer obsession with followin’ me?”

“Well, I just figured that you and I don’t talk much, and I didn’t want you walking home in the rain, so I thought I’d follow you for a little while.” Johnny grins. Stephen’s unamused face serves to deter the boy’s enthusiasm a bit though, as he replies.

“I ain’t got time to chit-chat. I got work that needs to be done at home.” Stephen begins walking again and Johnny does the same.

“I just thought you and I could be friends? I mean, it seemed like you hated me junior year…and sophomore year…and freshman year…” Johnny begins to trail off. Stephen was getting tired of entertaining his questions.

“Trust me, ya don’t wanna be friends with me. Ask Ulysses, I’m a lot to handle.” The hick claims. Johnny speeds up so that the two are side-by-side.

“I can take it. I’ve dealt with worse people…I think…” Johnny says, stopping for a moment to think.

“I don’t understand why you’d wanna be friends with me of all people.” Stephen mumbles.

“I just think you’re really cool, Stephen!” The blonde one chirps. Stephen immediately stops walking as the words catch him off guard. Light blush spreads across his cheeks at the intimate words. Sudden rage fills him and he whips around, getting in Johnny’s face and furiously bellowing,

 **“GO. HOOOME!!”** Johnny nearly falls back in fright. Stephen’s face was red with anger and embarrassment as he turns away, beginning to storm off. Johnny displays a disheartened look.

“Okay, I guess…” He says, turning to walk away. Stephen brings a hand to his face and pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. He turns around to watch Johnny as he walks off. As he watches the boy walk away, amongst the feelings of fury and agitation, he feels something else. It felt like guilt. It wasn’t an emotion Stephen often felt towards people. Normally the only time he ever felt guilt was when he’d accidentally do something to hurt an animal. Like, stepping on a cat’s tail. Stephen shakes the feeling off and continues his trek home.

 

Once Johnny arrives to his own house- a little late as he had expected- he immediately heads up to his room to rest. Today had been a lot to take in. What with Emette acting weird, the whole love thing, Ulysses, and Stephen getting mad at him. He lays on his bed and stares up at his ceiling, questioning himself as he had been doing lately. Did he love Emette? Was he gay? This was all too much to handle at once. What would he even do if he **was** gay? How would his mom react? The boy looks over at his clock. 5:12. He wonders when Emette would be calling him. What would it be about? Johnny sighs into his pillow as he covers himself up. He wanted all these questions to be answered already. He was tired of wondering. Just then, his phone begins to ring. Johnny’s eyes snap open and he answers it almost immediately. “Hello?”

“Hey, Kid.” Johnny smiles when he hears Emette’s voice on the other end.

“Hey, Emette!” He chimes. Emette can’t help but chuckle at his enthusiasm, despite not feeling too cheerful himself.

“How was your day?” He asks. He figures he should make small talk before bringing up the big subject he wanted to discuss. Johnny sighs.

“Weird. Too much went on today.”

“Yeah, I agree. I’m sorry about the pea thing.” Johnny quirks a brow.

“Why are you apologizing to me? Shouldn’t you be apologizing to Ulysses?”

“I already did. I just thought I’d apologize to you, since I made the situation pretty uncomfortable for everyone, including you.”

“Ah, well. It’s okay. At least it wasn’t me that did it, ha ha!” Johnny laughs, and Emette follows, but soon returns to his low state. Silence stirs between the two. Emette decides now is as good a time as any to break the news. He sighs deeply as he gathers up the courage to inform the boy.

“Listen, Johnny. You’re going to have to go back to the house with me sometime this week. Not tonight, but soon. Okay?” Johnny’s heart drops to his stomach and he can feel tears sting his eyes.

“W-What…? This week?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry, Kid. I promise I’ll make sure it’s over soon.” Johnny chokes back the urge to cry as he speaks.

“What all a-are we going to do?”

“Not too much. That guy’s probably dead by now, but if he’s not, I’m going to torture him a bit more. Then we’ll dispose of his body. I’ll drive you out to where I do it.” Emette can hear Johnny squeak a bit on the other end of the phone, before hearing him suck in a breath. He could tell that he was crying. “It’s alright, Kid. It’ll be over before you know it.” Johnny wipes the tears from his eyes.

“O-Okay…” Is all he can think to reply with. Emette spends a few more minutes on the phone calming the boy down. He reassures him that everything will be okay and tries to make him laugh; succeeding a few times. After consoling the boy, he hangs up the phone and lays back on his bed, covering his face with his hands and groaning. He hated doing this to the kid. Johnny was possibly Emette’s favorite person ever right now. He knew he loved him in at least some way. He relished in the fact that Johnny had shown signs of having a crush on him today, though. That was definitely the highlight of his day. Nevertheless, he tries to drown his guilt out by putting some music on. He sets up his record player and puts on some Elvis before taking out a cigarette and lighting it. He lays back on his bed once more and smokes until he can feel himself beginning to tire. Despite not wanting to nap in fear of having one of his incidents happen, he snuffs out his cigarette in his ashtray and curls up under the covers. Johnny is all he can think about as he falls into a deep slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! Wow. What a chapter. Expect less filler in these chapter from now on, btw.  
> Anyway, I don't feel like typing anymore. Thank you homies for reading!


	9. Hypocrisy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hypocrimette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings:  
> C-slur.
> 
> This is a very depressing chapter, I'm just gonna warn you. But like...eh. I hated writing the last parts, but it's a pretty good chapter, I think.

Emette wakes up to a pitch black room with the bass sound of Elvis’ voice still echoing within. He groggily sits up and turns on his lamp. He glances at the clock and nearly shouts the time in surprise. “Five AM?!” He slings his covers over and stands up from his bed. He only intended on napping for a couple hours or so, not until 5am! He debates on whether or not he should try and sleep for a couple more hours until he had to get up for school. He shakes his head. “No. I’m not tired enough.” He says, as he shuts off his record player. _Viva Las Vegas_ would probably be stuck in his head for the rest of the day. He stretches out his back and heads into his bathroom, grateful that wasn’t where he had woken up that morning. He sheds himself of his clothing and warms up the water in the shower. Too much had gone on yesterday, and today was only Tuesday. He had a feeling it was going to be a long week.

He takes a long shower, since he never gets the chance to on weekdays. After the shower, he opens the door so that the mirror will clear up sooner. The frigid air gives him goosebumps, but he chooses to ignore it while he brushes his teeth. By the time he’s done, the mirror is decently clear. He poses, slicks his hair back, and turns around to examine his backside. “Damn.” He says, looking downward in particular. “I’m lookin’ extra fine, today.” He slaps his ass and turns back around, only to see his father carrying a basket of clothes, giving him a judgmental stare. Emette stares back and his dad shakes his head.

“I swear you get everything from your mother.” He mumbles, walking over to the washing machine. Emette quickly dresses, then slicks his hair up in his signature pompadour and exits the bathroom. Bubba meows at him from below and Emette bends down.

“Hey, Stinky!” He picks the cat up and holds him. Bubba meows again and Stanly walks by.

“Brrrow!” Bubba mews.

“Mrow!” Emette replies.

“Hey, you speak cat. Tell him next time he attacks my foot while I’m doing laundry, I’m making cat-stew.” Stanly jokes.

“Hmm…I don’t think that sentence has an exact translation.”

“Well, do your best. He’s in danger if your mother and I can’t agree on what to cook tonight.”

“I dunno if cat-stew is such a good idea, Dad. You might get hairballs.”

“Eh, we’ll just cook his tail.”

“Then he’ll come to your bed in the middle of the night asking for his, ‘Tailypo~’ Woooo~” Emette jests in a ghostly voice.

“Tsk. Tailypo. A taily-‘getting his ass thrown outside,’ is what he’s gonna get.” Stanly mumbles almost inaudibly. Emette looks down to Bubba.

“You wanna get your tailypo taken away?”

“Brrrow.”

“That’s what I thought. No more attacking Dad’s feet.” The boy then sets the creature down and begins to ascend the stairs, with the cat following. He notices that Sarah isn’t up yet and sees his mother on the couch watching TV and knitting. “What’s crackalackin’ Ma?” He asks.

“My joints.” She replies. Emette laughs.

“You’re turning into Abuelita.”

“Like mother, like daughter, I suppose.”

“Only when you get into your middle ages!” Stanly shouts from the kitchen.

“He’s right, you know. Once you get to be my age, your joints will be, ‘crackalackin’’ all day!”

“I don’t know, Dad’s older than you and his joints don’t make any noise.” Stanly snorts.

“Listen a little closer next time.” He brings a plate of breakfast into the dining room.

“Oh! Did you actually make breakfast for everyone this morning?” Emette asks. Angelina nods.

“Yep! Lucky for you, you got up just in time! It should still be warm.”

“Awesome!” Emette makes haste into the kitchen and puts a generous amount of food on his plate before walking to the dining room table and taking a seat. His father raises a brow.

“Did you leave any for your sister?” He asks. Emette nods with a mouth full of food. Sarah descends the stairs and yawns sleepily. Her hair was a mess and she was still in her pajamas. When her tired eyes see Emette sitting at the table, she growls to herself. She usually got up before Emette did, and was always looking forward to getting away from him for a few minutes after she had woken up. The time away from him was usually what kept her from getting too angry when he **did** wake up and start annoying her. She practically stomps into the kitchen and makes her plate. She begrudgingly takes a seat next to Emette at the table.

“Good morning, Sar-Bear!” Emette chirps. Sarah only growls and shoves a biscuit into her mouth. “Katherine and Katy coming to pick you up, today?” Sarah nods. “Good! Cause I’m gonna go on a quick morning drive. Love you!” He kisses Sarah on the forehead and she whines in protest. “Love you mom, love you dad!” He says to his parents, before putting on his jacket and shoes, grabbing his keys, and heading out to his car swiftly. He speedily buckles his seatbelt and starts up the engine. He had gotten the idea once to wake up early and drive over to Johnny’s place before he left for school one morning. He figured this morning would be perfect, since it was the first morning in a while where he had woken up early. He swerves out of his neighborhood and speeds on his way to Johnny’s, hoping the boy hadn’t left yet.

 

(C-slur in this paragraph)

At his house, Johnny was watching TV with the girls. It wouldn’t be too long before their bus came to pick them up. Johnny was invested in a Mickey Mouse cartoon when everyone hears a knock on the door. None of the girls pay attention as they are too engrossed in the black and white cartoon antics on the screen. Johnny hops up and answers the door, not sure who he was expecting to be knocking this early. His eyebrows raise and his heart leaps when he sees his best friend standing on his front porch. He was leaning against the door frame and grinning coolly. Johnny smiles brightly at the man.

“H-Hey, Emette!” As soon as the girls hear the mention of the name, they all jump up and run over to Johnny’s side to see the other boy.

“Emmy!” Janette shouts, bouncing up and down.

“Get out of my way, you noid! I can’t see him!” Margaret and Sally begin pushing each other.

“Stop! Johnny, Margaret’s pushing me!” Sally whines.

“Hey, you two, stop it.” Johnny picks Sally up so that they can both see.

“Hey, everyone!” Emette greets. Janette runs out and hugs the boy’s leg. Emette laughs and leans down, picking the girl up. She giggles and wraps her arms around his neck for support. Margaret walks over and hugs Emette’s other leg. He bends down and picks her up as well. Johnny laughs. He looked kind of silly with two little girls latched onto him.

“What’re you doing here?” The blonde boy asks.

“I woke up early this morning and thought I’d stop by and say hello before I headed off to school. You want me to drive you today, Kid?” Emette asks. Johnny nods excitedly.

“Yeah! Of course!” Before Emette can say anything else, he hears the sound of a bus stop behind him. He and Johnny set the girls down. “Bye girls, I love you!” The blonde boy says.

“Bye girls!” Emette shouts. They all say goodbye to the two boys before they load onto the bus and are driven off. “Guess that means we can get going.” Johnny nods and the two enter Emette’s car.

“So, you’re driving me from **and** to school now?” Johnny jokes.

“Only if I get up early enough.”

“Well, you’re lucky you got here when you did. A few more minutes and I would’ve already been on my way.” Johnny and Emette share a laugh before the car goes silent. They both had a lot on their minds at that moment. “Emette…” Johnny mumbles. “You remember that news broadcast a few days ago? The one about the child molester who was murdered in his home? Was that you who did that?” The darker skinned boy is still for a moment before nodding affirmatively.

“Yeah. That was me.”

“Why didn’t you kill him at the abandoned house?”

“Well…I wanted to, but he was getting the upper hand. So I just stabbed him until he couldn’t move anymore. By then, he was bleeding so much that he would’ve died before I could’ve gotten him there. Stupid move on my part for not burying his body. But at that point I didn’t really see a reason to. It’s not like I was gonna come back and clean the house or anything.” He huffs a small laugh.

“How do you even find out all the information about these guys? Are you psychic or something?” Johnny asks. Emette laughs louder.

“Nah. It’d be pretty bangin’ if I was, though! My dad’s a cop and can’t keep his mouth shut around me. Plus, reading the paper and paying attention to the news helps as well.”

“Wait, your dad’s a cop?!”

“Yep! He’s assigned to the Special Victim’s Unit, so he knows just about all the nasty people out there. I know some of his buddies on the force, too. They’re also a treasure trove of information.” Johnny sits back in disbelief.

“Wow. That’s ironic.” He mumbles. “It’s gotta be scary being a murderer and having a cop for a dad.”

“Eh. It was at first. I was so jittery around him the first couple times I killed. But after a while I realized that as long as I kept my mouth shut and acted normal, I’d be fine. I tell all of my dad’s buddies that I wanna be a Special Victims officer, too, so that it takes any suspicion off of me when I ask a lot of questions. They all admire me for how ‘dedicated’ I am.” He smiles with amusement at the thought. Johnny looks straight ahead. Emette sure seems proud of deceiving people, he thinks. Of course, if he was a master liar with suave charm and the wit of a cunning fox, then maybe he’d be more than a little proud of himself, too. Hell, if he had **any** of Emette’s good qualities, he’d stroke his own ego as much as he possibly could. Emette was known to stroke his own ego at times. He had probably been waiting for a while to find someone he can brag about this to, Johnny thinks. That was something for Johnny to be proud of. He was the only one Emette could brag to about being a charming, witty liar and deceiving the people who could ultimately end his career as a murderer, or end him in general. Johnny gets chills of fear at the thought of Emette being executed.

“Aren’t you afraid of getting the chair?” The blonde boy asks.

“Cheeuh. Wouldn’t you?”

“D-Definitely…” Johnny’s pupils shrink as he suddenly begins to realize something. “What if they catch you?! I’m gonna get the chair, too if you get caught!” He begins to panic and Emette places a steadying hand on his shoulder.

“Woah, woah. Don’t wig out in the car, now. If they catch me, I’ll deny your involvement completely. Won’t even mention a word about you.” He assures. Johnny’s nerves settle a little.

“B-But what if they find out about my involvement?”

“Then I’ll make sure they know you didn’t actually kill anyone. I’ll tell them the entire story about how you got involved and they’ll let you off **a lot** easier than they will me. You won’t be charged with any of the murders and probably won’t even face any jail time. And they’ll believe that sweet little face of yours when you say you didn’t do anything, too.” He pinches Johnny’s cheek and he laughs, pushing his hand away.

“Alright. I trust you.” He claims. He sits back once again, letting out a deep sigh. “I’d really miss you if you got caught and executed. I don’t know what I’d do with myself. You’re the only one who doesn’t think I’m crazy when I have panic attacks and knows how to handle me. You know how to help me more than my own mom does. Plus…you’re really the only friend I have right now.” Emette quirks a brow.

“What about Tyrese and Ulysses?” Johnny shrugs.

“Yeah, I like them, and I think we’re getting closer, but they’re nothing compared to you. I wouldn’t be nearly as upset if either one of them died or moved away as I would be with you; as bad as that sounds. I might cry a little bit. But if you died or moved away, I would be inconsolable…” Emette listens and finds himself becoming a little claustrophobic. He realizes then how dependent Johnny was becoming of him. He had no problem with Johnny being clingy for the most part. However, he didn’t want the boy to completely rely on him for support every time he needed it. Emette rubs the back of his neck.

“Uh…listen, Kid. I understand that you’d be devastated if I wasn’t around anymore, and I’d be devastated if you were gone, too…but you need to learn to be more self-reliant. I just don’t want you to get used to coming to me every time you need something. I’ll gladly help you if you seriously feel like there’s no other way you can get help, but you gotta try to do stuff on your own, cause I won’t always be there with you. You dig?” Emette asks.

“Oh! No, no, no, I get it! I know I have to look out for myself, too! S-Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound clingy...” Johnny looks away from the other and out the window. The darker skinned boy glances at him and curses himself as he observes the boy’s dead face.

“No, it’s fine! Don’t worry! Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with a healthy amount of clinginess. You’re not crossing the line or anything, ha ha…” He laughs nervously.

“Okay. That’s good. I just don’t wanna make you uncomfortable.”

“Nah, you’re good! I’d tell you if you were making me uncomfortable.” Johnny looks him dead in the face.

“Promise?” Emette holds up a pinky.

“Pinky promise!” Johnny can’t help but laugh as he wraps his little finger around the other’s. By then they had both arrived at school.

 

They both immediately notice how early they are when they look up at the big clock overlooking the commons area. Johnny turns to Emette. “Do you think Tyrese, Ulysses, and Stephen are here yet?” He asks. Emette shrugs.

“Maybe. Let’s hope they are, I need to talk to Ulysses.”

"About yesterday?” Emette rubs the back of his neck.

“Yeah.” Johnny nods and begins scanning the crowds of people, looking for any of the boys. He was secretly praying that none of them would be coming anytime soon. He had a personal question on his mind that he needed to ask the other. The blonde one sighs and taps the taller boy’s shoulder. Emette turns to the boy inquiringly.

“Can I ask you something?” Johnny questions. Emette was a little worried about the question, for some reason, but nods nonetheless.

“Uh, Sure Kid! What is it?” Johnny hesitates for a moment, feeling his cheeks begin to burn as the question repeats over and over again in his head.

“Do you um…like…” Emette quirks a brow as he observes the blonde boy’s strange behavior and stuttering. “You know…like…do you…agh!” Johnny shakes his head. “Never mind…” He says in defeat. He wanted to ask if Emette liked boys, but he decides he is too afraid of the answer to want to know. Emette raises his eyebrows. It wasn’t exactly unusual for Johnny to shy away from asking a question; this Emette knows. However, Emette found it strange for him to want to ask him something out of the blue, then change his mind halfway.

“You sure, Kid?” Emette asks. Once again, the shorter boy nods. “Alright, then.” The black haired boy then notices Stephen’s countenance in the crowd of people and grins. “There’s mudslide!” Johnny’s eyes perk up a bit and he glances around.

“Where?”

“Right there.” Emette places a hand on the boy’s shoulder and surreptitiously points to the redneck, who was leaning up against the wall as usual. “Let’s go say hi!”

“You’re not gonna try to make him angry again, are you?”

“What? Nah! I’m just gonna chat with him.” Emette assures, even though he secretly had somewhat of an intention to do so. Johnny knew that even just trying to chat with Stephen would result in a snappy response. Despite this, he had wanted to try and speak with him casually just to see if he could get through to him. Even if it was just a little. As Emette begins to walk towards him, Johnny grabs his arm.

“Wait.” The taller boy stops and gives him a bewildered expression. “Let me talk to him first.” Confused, Emette stares at him for a second before glancing at Stephen, then back to the blonde boy.

“Um…alright, then.” He agrees. Johnny smiles that sweet little grateful smile that Emette always loved and turns around to walk towards the hick, his heart racing the entire time. He had an idea on how to get through to him.

“Uh…hey, Stephen.” Johnny greets in a low voice, opposed to his usual, friendly and excited one.

“Oh great.” Stephen mutters. “Whadda you want?” Johnny pauses. What **did** he want?

“I just wanted to see how you were doing today.” He says, making sure to keep his face neutral and look into his eyes calmly. Stephen notices a change in the boy’s behavior and wonders if that was his fault.

“The fuck is up with ya? You ain’t actin’ like yerself.” He asks. Johnny looks away for a moment, trying to come up with a reason.

“You just…seem to get annoyed with how I usually act, so…” The hick lowers his brow.

“Is this about makin’ friends with me again?”

“No. Not necessarily. I just wanted to have a normal conversation for once. I mean…you, Ulysses, and Tyrese seem to get along. I kind of just want everyone to get along, you know?” Johnny says sincerely. Although, he was stretching the truth a bit.

“Well, that ain’t gon’ happen as long as Emette’s in the fuckin’ picture. Everything was fine until he showed up.” The blonde boy’s eyes shoot open wider in surprise.

“What? Why?”

“That fucker ruins everything! You were there yesterday, weren’t ya?!” The redhead snaps. “He fucks with people fer no goddamn reason and don’t listen to anyone! He don’t know when to stop doin’ shit and ends up pissin’ everyone off! Before he showed up, I was the fuckin’ star of the football team, but he took that title from me!” Johnny stares at him, feeling anger bubble up inside him.

“Is that what all of this is about? Your title?”

“Fuck no! Did ya not just fuckin’ hear me?! I told ya what else that bastard does that pisses me and everyone else off!” The blonde boy pauses. His feelings of anger turning into sudden sullenness as he absorbs Stephen’s words.

“…Do Tyrese and Ulysses think the same things?”

“O’course they do! They just sugar coat it, unlike me. I ain’t gon’ be gentle about this shit!” Johnny lowers his brow and mumbles.

“Why don’t you tell him yourself, then?” Stephen snarls.

“What was that?”

“I said, ‘Why don’t you tell him yourself then’?!” Johnny blurts at full volume. The hick is taken aback by this sheepish boy’s sudden outburst. “You know, maybe he messes with you because you’re such a dick all the time! Maybe if you tried to be nice, then he’d leave you alone!” Johnny could feel all his nerves burning and anger flowing through his veins; making his entire body hot and his heart beat faster. Stephen was more or less feeling the same way. He steps forward; his foot in between the blonde boys feet and bends his head down to stare into his bright blue eyes turned to white lightening with fury. Johnny shakes to step back, but refuses to do so.

“What the fuck do you know about me? You don’t know shit!” Stephen bellows.

“I know that you’re a miserable person.” Johnny replies on impulse. Shocked, Stephen perks up his eyebrows and widens his eyes. Utter rage soon returns, however, and he nearly headbutts the boy as he jerks in closer.

“ **I’m** a miserable person?! Yer always mopin’ around an’ actin’ like no one likes you!”

“I’m not moping! And maybe I act that way because you and Justin and Jacob and Cole all hate me!”

“I don’t hate you!” The hick finally admits, backing off soon after. Johnny’s eyes widen, although his overall expression remains generally the same. Stephen can feel the embarrassment of admitting his feelings towards the blonde boy setting in and jerks around to punch the wall. “God fuckin’ dammit!” He grumbles.

“Stephen.” Johnny mutters in a gentle voice.

“Just go away…” The redhead demands in a quieter tone than before. Despite wanting to reason with him, Johnny turns away to head back towards Emette, who he sees was now talking to Tyrese and Ulysses.

When Johnny arrives to the three other boys, they all notice the bothered look on his face. Tyrese is the first to speak. “What’s wrong, Little Buddy?” He asks with concern in his tone. Before Johnny can answer, the bell rings.

“We’d better hurry on to class.” Ulysses says in somewhat of a rush.

“Oh. Okay.” The smaller blonde mutters.

“We can talk later.” Tyrese offers, as he and Ulysses walk away. “See ya!” Johnny and Emette both wave goodbye and make their way towards their classroom. Johnny hangs his head down and gazes mostly at the ground as he and Emette walk.

“Did something happen with Stephen, Kid?”

“…Yeah…” The blonde one mumbles.

“You need me to kick his ass for you?” The black haired boy jokes. Johnny doesn’t seem to find it funny, however, and lowers his brow.

“No.” He grumbles in a somewhat whiny voice. Emette takes notice and shuts up for a while.

“Do you…wanna talk about it?” The two reach the classroom and stand outside the door to speak for a little while longer. Johnny sighs and shakes his head.

“I’ll tell you when you drive me home today.” He claims. Emette furrows his brow in a worried expression.

“Oh…okay, then.” Before Johnny can turn to enter the classroom, Emette places a hand on his head and ruffles his hair. “Hey.” He hums gently. “Keep your chin up as much as you can. Things will get better.” The blonde one gives a weak smile.

“Okay. I’ll try.” The other boy’s words didn’t cure his emotional distress in the slightest, but Johnny still appreciated the fact that Emette was looking after him. Although, when he sits down at his seat, he begins to think about what Stephen had told him about everyone thinking Emette ruined everything when he came into the picture. It was hard for the boy to comprehend, since his feelings toward the man were the exact opposite. How could anyone not like Emette? The blonde one thinks. Then he remembers how Emette strokes his own ego. And how he completely disregarded Stephen and Ulysses’ feelings. He begins to feel conflicted as these thoughts run around in his mind. Why was Emette like this to everyone else but not him? What was so special about him? Johnny glances at the other boy while he takes notes. He still feels adoration towards him; he was still his idol. But somewhere in that mix of auspicious emotions was a nagging feeling of imperfection. That’s when he realizes how high of a pedestal he had been putting Emette on all this time. He knew he had high regards of the other, but he never realized how high they were until now. He begins to question if something was wrong with him. Or would be wrong with him of he kept on feeling like this. He starts to think about everything that had been happening and knows there was anxiety creeping up on him slowly but surely; ready to pounce at any minute like a stray cat on a vulnerable mouse. He stares at his papers while his mind gradually drifts away from reality; leaving him to dissociate in his own head.

 

Once lunchtime rolls around, Johnny makes his way out to the bleachers, where he notices Stephen was sitting right next to Tyrese, staring out into the field. Johnny swallows the lump in his throat and grips his lunchbox tight as he climbs the steps. Despite being separated from Stephen by Emette and two gigantic men, the boy was still on edge after what had happened that morning. “Hey, Kid!” Emette greets in a cheerful tone. Johnny simply smiles gently and begins unpacking his lunch. Naturally, Emette becomes concerned, but has a feeling the boy was still upset by this morning, and decides not to pry. Tyrese and Ulysses were discussing something Johnny could care less about. He was too engrossed in what Stephen had told him that morning. It isn’t long before Ulysses notices the small blonde’s thoughtful expression. He nudges Tyrese and flicks his head towards the boy. He didn’t want to be the one to have to talk to him.

“Hey, Johnny. What’s wrong?” The large dark skinned boy asks. Johnny shrugs and takes a bite of his sandwich. Stephen leans over to glimpse at the smaller blonde and sucks his teeth bitterly. He leans back again pretty quickly, just in case the boy saw or heard him. He wouldn’t care if he did or not, but it was better if he didn’t. Stephen wasn’t in the mood for an argument and, quite frankly, he was still bothered by their confrontation earlier. He was still waiting for the right opportunity to reprimand the two larger boys for revealing any of his information. There was no way Johnny could learn about his miserable life without someone telling him. Not much is said during lunch, and when the bell rings, Johnny breaks off from the pack before everyone else, definitely not looking forward to his next class. Suddenly, as he walks, a hand grabs his shoulder tight and he freezes. Does he dare look behind him? Very cautiously, Johnny turns his head to look upon the face of Justin. Fear swallows him and he begins to sweat.

“W-What do you…w-want?” He stutters. He meant for it to sound like a passive question, however, he fears he may have put too much of a strain on the “you.” That’s when Johnny notices that Jacob and Cole were nowhere to be found. Although this eases some of his anxiety, staring into the face of a vicious hound was not exactly relaxing. Justin glances around before leaning down to the boy’s face. His tone is a soft whisper, but his gritty voice serves to add an ominous feel to it.

“Listen here,” He begins, his cold blue eyes like the waves of a stormy sea locked on Johnny’s, “don’t think that you can hide behind that hog for forever. I’ll get your prep asses if it’s the last thing I do. You, Emette, and the three other little piggies you hang out with. I’ll wipe you all out, you hear?” The blonde boy stays frozen, trying to digest the taller boy’s words. Why did he want to wipe all of them out? What did he mean by that? Before Johnny can say anything, Justin releases him and goes along on his way; but not before uttering his last words. “You greedy little heartless swine have no place on this earth.” With that, the greaser disappears around a corner. Johnny is left dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open in disbelief. Just then, the bell rings and he curses under his breath as he bolts toward his classroom.

 

When the day ends, Johnny follows Emette out to his car, listening to him speak the entire way. He was too immersed in his own thoughts to absorb anything, however. Once they reach the car, Emette stops speaking, and glances over to the sullen blonde boy. He furrows his brow in worry and reaches over to touch the boy’s cheek. He rubs his thumb across his soft skin lightly. Johnny blushes and sits up immediately, warranting Emette to pull his hand back. He starts up the car and begins driving out of the parking lot. “What’s been buggin’ ya today, Kid?” Emette asks. With a sigh, Johnny begins to confess.

“Stephen and I had an argument this morning, and something he told me has had me down all day.” The black haired boy lowers his brow thinking about what Stephen could have possibly said to the boy to make him so upset.

“Oh yeah? What was that?” His voice is stern with a hint of anger behind it. Johnny finds himself becoming agitated with Emette’s tone, and his voice mimics it in a way.

“Stephen told me that he and Tyrese and Ulysses think you’ve ruined everything since you joined their group. He said that all of them hate how you never listen and how you pick on people for no reason.” Emette’s expression changes from one of annoyance to one of apathy. Johnny takes notice and is unsure of how to feel towards the sudden change. Emette sucks his teeth.

“Whatever.” He states simply. Johnny quirks a brow.

“That’s all you have to say?”

“Yep. They don’t mean much to me. Why should I care what they think of me?” Johnny is baffled to say the least. He had no idea Emette thought like this. “What do you think of what they say, Kid?” The black haired boy suddenly asks. The blonde one is caught off guard and begins to frantically try and gather his thoughts.

“Um…” Once a coherent thought forms, the boy lowers his eyebrows slightly. “You…do pick on people a lot…not just Stephen.” Emette’s brow raises at the boy’s honesty. Johnny continues. “And you didn’t listen to Ulysses when he told you to stop…and sometimes you don’t listen to me, either…” The two sit in silence for a moment, Johnny deathly afraid of Emette getting mad at him for stating what he thought. Emette thinks hard on what the other boy had revealed to him, and begins to remember some instances of when he didn’t listen to Johnny; Cat’s PJ’s; when he was putting makeup on him; when he went to confront Justin. His eyes become dull and thoughtful. As they stop at a light, he looks down.

“I guess you’re right, Kid…I really don’t listen sometimes.” Johnny can feel the negative energy and begins to feel afraid.

“Are you mad?” He asks in a quiet voice. Emette takes a moment to reply.

“Not at you…at myself.” He admits, staring straight ahead as he drives. “I never realized how much I don’t listen until you pointed it out.” He begins to worry now that he knows he has affected Johnny as well. “Have I hurt you at all, Kid?” He queries. The blonde boy shakes his head after a moment of consideration.

“Not really. The most you’ve done is annoy me a little bit. You did hurt Ulysses, though. Don’t you feel bad about that?” The black haired boy sighs as he realizes there was no way he could lie to the other boy without feeling guilty afterwards.

“I feel bad, yes, but…I wouldn’t care if that was the end of our friendship.” He admits. Johnny remains quiet with an irritated expression. Emette sees this and his eyes dullen even more. “Guess you’re mad at me now, huh?”

“I’m more disappointed than anything. I didn’t think you’d be so uncaring towards people.” The blonde one mumbles. The darker skinned boy sighs.

“I don’t think I could ever fully explain myself, but…once you’ve been through some of the stuff I’ve been through, you learn how to cut people off; people who will slow you down or get in your way. People who will never understand or at least try to understand you. Ulysses and I aren’t exactly compatible. I like him, but I would never like him the way I like you; if any of this makes sense.” Johnny remains silent. “Listen Kid, I just can’t be as open and bright as you. I’m not as good of a person as you are. I lost all of those values a long, long time ago, and there’s no way I can get them back now that they’re gone. I don’t expect you to understand everything I’m saying, I just want you to know that this is the way I am, whether you like it or not. And I’m sorry if all of this changed how you see me. I know you looked up to me.”

“I would understand if you would just tell me why you act the way you do.” The blonde boy grumbles. Emette shakes his head with an almost pained expression.

“I can’t do that right now, Kid. Maybe someday…” Once again, silence stirs between the two.

“I know you’re a good person, Emette. I know you care about people. Why else would you be killing all these bad people? I guess I can see what you mean with cutting ties with people who will slow you down. I wouldn’t want to be dragged down or stopped by someone. I guess the difference between me and you is that you can actually cut them off without feeling bad or missing them.”

“I never said I don’t miss people when I cut them off.” Johnny turns to the other boy.

“Huh?”

“I’m not **that** heartless.” Emette laughs. “I’d still miss the good times I had with Ulysses if I stopped being friends with him. I just wouldn’t really have a desire to make any more.”

“Oh.” Johnny begins to feel himself perk up a bit. Emette smiles at the boy.

“See? I’m not so bad after all.” Johnny chuckles.

“I never said you were bad.”

“Ah, but you were thinkin’ it!” Emette teases.

“What? No I wasn’t!” Johnny giggles as Emette ruffles his hair.

“I know you weren’t, Kid. So, still look up to me?”

“Cheeuh! I wanna learn how to cut off people I don’t need in my life!” Johnny was only partly joking. The black haired boy once again laughs.

“You’ve got a lot to learn, then.” It isn’t long until Emette pulls up to the boy’s house and Johnny hops out, waving goodbye. Emette waves back to Johnny and the girls as well before driving off. Once out of the neighborhood, his smile fades and his face turns dim. He begins to dread tomorrow. He didn’t have to heart to tell Johnny after such a bad day that he was planning on taking him back to the abandoned house tomorrow night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm feeling a little burnt out on Killer Idol. Don't get me wrong, I have every intention on finishing it, but it's taking me longer and longer to finish chapters. I have a feeling that something will once again spark my interest in the story, but until that comes, y'all are gonna have to live with monthly chapters, lol.  
> Anyway, thank you homies for reading!


	10. Silent Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny Carmichael voice: "You can't catch me, gay thoughts!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings:  
> Emeto, gore, c-slur.
> 
> I am so so sorry that this chapter took so long. I've been so busy with schoolwork since exams are this week and next. I also got really stuck on one part and it was killing me because I couldn't think of what to put there, lol.  
> Anywho, thank y'all for being so patient. I really like this chapter, it's probably my favorite chapter so far. It's got so much good content in it (imo).  
> I hope you enjoy the WAY overdue 10th chapter of Killer Idol!

Johnny takes his time walking to school. He didn’t really want to be driven by anyone, and had already turned Tyrese and Ulysses down. Something about this morning wasn’t feeling right to him. He was feeling unsocial and dragged down, which was normally a feeling he got after socializing a whole bunch. This was odd, since his morning had only consisted of him settling an argument between his sisters and turning down Tyrese and Ulysses for a ride. He looks up at the cloudy sky, thinking about how the dimness wasn’t helping him either. Once he arrives at school, he takes a seat in the commons area immediately and rests his chin on his hand. He spots Stephen leaning up against the wall and huffs. Normally, he wouldn’t be so agitated upon seeing him, but this morning just looking at him was making him exhausted. He sighs and looks down at the wood patterns on the lunch table; tracing them with his finger to pass the time. Just then, he notices someone sitting in front of him. He glances up to see the thin eyes and gentle smile of Mei. Johnny scowls and looks back down. Mei’s expression doesn’t change, despite the unwelcoming look from the boy. “Hey, Johnny.” She greets in a smooth, silky voice.

“Hey.” Johnny mumbles.

“You look kind of down? Is something wrong?” Mei asks. The blonde boy shrugs.

“I dunno.” Mei nods and leans towards the boy a bit.

“You know, the other day when I first met you, I was a bit surprised at your reaction to hearing about me being Emette’s ex.” The girl states.

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?” Johnny’s tone was uninterested and bordering rude. Mei only smiles, however.

“Because, that’s the exact same reaction I had when Emette talked about his ex before we started dating.” The girl claims. Johnny shoots a surprised look at Mei, his upper body perking up immediately. Mei chuckles lightly at the reaction.

“Really?” Johnny asks. He could feel his face getting hot. Mei nods.

“Mhm. He had dated one other girl at this school before me when he first transferred. He was introducing me to her, and since I had a crush on him, I wasn’t exactly welcoming.”

“But I thought you said you dated him for three months?”

“Yeah, well, his relationship with his other ex didn’t last very long. She was kind of a…bitch, for lack of a better word. They dated for a couple weeks, before Emette cut it off with her. Then we started dating almost immediately afterwards. But I doubt you wanna hear about all that.”

“So…what you’re saying is…I have a crush on Emette?” Johnny’s heart begins to race at the thought. Mei chuckles.

“Well, I’m not **saying** you’re anything. I’m just telling you what my experience was like since it was so similar to what you’re going through. I just found it a little funny is all. Who knows? You might just not want him to be in a relationship with someone else because you don’t wanna be a third wheel. You wanna keep your best bud around and have him all for yourself. Whatever that means to both of you.” The girl’s smile seems to turn a little more devious, Johnny notices. She spots his pink cheeks and thinks that her assumptions of him having a crush on the other boy are correct. She knows how to read minds at times.

“What about when you were considering dating Emette again?” Johnny changes the subject quickly and gives her a stern look. She stares for a moment before giggling.

“Honestly, Johnny, it’s a lot better he and I aren’t dating. When we were together, we were a disaster waiting to happen. Our personalities are so similar sometimes that we often end up getting pretty burnt out on being around each other. Plus, he and I had a few major things we didn’t agree on.”

“Like?” The boy leans in closer, and Mei mimics teasingly. Johnny backs off.

“Liiiiike, how he had such an easy time getting rid of people.”

“Oh. Yeah, we were just talking about that yesterday.”

“I just don’t agree with how much he objectifies people. He sees certain people as objects that he can just throw out if he doesn’t want them anymore. He thinks they’re free to use and toys with their feelings when and if he wants. Given, these people are usually rude or uncouth, but sometimes he overdoes it. For someone who believes so strongly in ‘eye-for-an-eye’ you’d think he’d realize that an eye is equal to an eye; nothing more. I tried to tell him to stop being so unnecessarily cruel, but he never listened to me. And that was probably our biggest issue is that he didn’t listen. It took me yelling at him before he actually got the hint. Ugh. He’s a really nice guy, but I’d never go back to him. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t exactly the best girlfriend in the world sometimes, either, but…” Mei’s looks at Johnny, who was now staring down at his lap. She frowns, realizing she may have said too much. “But, hey, don’t let what I said deter you. He seems like he’s changed a bit since we’ve dated. He talked about you to me a lot the other day.” Johnny looks up to her with hopeful eyes.

“He did?” The girl nods.

“Based on the way he talked and how much he talked, I can tell that he really, **really** likes you. Emette never talks about anyone like that. Hell, the only person he would talk fondly of before he met you was himself.” Johnny can feel his heart skip a beat and a smile creeps up his face. His foul mood is suddenly replaced with giddy glee.

“W-Wow, I’m so glad!” He chimes with pink cheeks. Mei grins as she watches the boy’s face brighten up.

“And you know,” She begins, just as the bell rings, “I think you two would be perfect for each other.” She then stands and waves as she begins to walk away. “It was nice talking to you Johnny.” The boy feels his heart beat with tremendous force as he thinks about her words. He is too awestruck to even notice the girl waving. He thinks about how Emette described the feeling of love the other day. Is this it? Is this love? Johnny ponders it the entire way to his first period classroom. He grins widely when he sees Emette waiting for him at the door.

“Hey, Kid!” Emette greets. Johnny pulls him into a hug and hums. Emette is taken aback by this sudden action and doesn’t think to return the embrace before Johnny pulls away.

“Hey, Emette!” The blonde boy chimes. The taller boy regains himself and smiles, ruffling the boy’s hair and following him into the classroom. They both take their seats and begin diligently taking notes.

 

Stephen yawns and stares down at his paper. His focus was lacking greatly today. His mind was more focused on feeling tired than on schoolwork. He keeps thinking about yesterday with Johnny, as well. He was still unimaginably embarrassed about telling Johnny how he felt about him. Even if it was nothing too intimate “I don’t hate you” is still a big statement in his mind. Especially since he always kept up the act of hating everyone all the time. Obviously he didn’t hate **everyone** ; just a very large majority of the people he met. His pencil shakes in his hand as he messily writes his name at the top of his paper. The sound of chalk on the blackboard was hypnotizing and slowly forcing his eyes shut. His head begins to gradually float downward until his head is laying gently on his desk. “Stephen.” The teacher says sternly. The hick jolts up.

“Huh?”

“No sleeping in my class.”

“Oh…yessir…” He reluctantly sits upright and gazes with blurring vision at the board which reads “test today.” The hick groans quietly as he watches his teacher pass the papers out. Once he gets his, he can hardly focus on the questions, as his vision is fading in and out every now and then. Nevertheless, he sets his pencil to his paper and tries his hardest to do his work. Surprisingly, it only takes him a few minutes to finish. Once he’s done, he stands up and walks to the teacher’s desk to set his paper the pile.

“Stephen.” The old man behind the desk calls out to him. The redneck looks up to him. “You need to start getting more sleep at night. I can’t have you falling asleep during instruction.” Stephen nods.

“Yessir, Mr. Gammage.” He replies, before taking his seat once again. He can hear his classmates whispering behind him and grits his teeth.

“Typical. He’s always falling asleep.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“Does he **ever** get any sleep?” In his sleep deprived state, he has no brains to think before turning around and shouting.

“Why don’t ya mind yer business!?”

“Stephen!” Mr. Gammage shouts. “Get over here! Now!” The hick growls and rises to his feet, listening with blazing nerves as his classmates giggle behind him.

 

After facing a scolding in front of the entire class, the bell rings and Stephen grabs his things in a huff. He makes for the exit quickly, just in case Mr. Gammage had any more to say to him. He pushes past people in the hallway carelessly, making his way to his locker. Once there, he puts in his combination and practically flings it open, nearly hitting someone in the face. They scowl at him, but he doesn’t care. He swiftly exchanges his books and slams his locker. “Mr. Biggs.” A familiar voice behind him makes him cringe, before he puts on a more neutral face and turns around.

“Ma’am?” He says politely.

“I would expect you to know by now that slamming lockers is a big taboo in this school.” Ms. Peterson scolds.

“Yes ma’am. I’m sorry.”

“I’ll let you off with a warning this time, but next time I catch you slamming lockers, I **will** take action. Do you understand me?” Stephen nods.

“Yes’m.” Ms. Peterson nods and Stephens turns to walk away, wearing a scowl as he goes. By then, he had woken up somewhat, and was slightly less irritable than before as he enters his next class. He sits down in his usual seat next to Ulysses. The larger man glances at the hick, but doesn’t say anything for a while. Finally, after several moments of awkward silence, he leans over and whispers,

“Did you do the homework?”

“I always do the homework.” The hick informs with a hint of aggravation in his tone.

“Oh.” Ulysses once again pauses. “I couldn’t figure out the answer to number ten.”

“Yeah? Whadda ya want me to do about it?” The larger man taps his fingers.

“Can I…copy it?” He asks in a lower voice than before. Stephen growls and reluctantly pulls out his homework and passes it to the other boy. Ulysses smiles. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, whatever.” The redhead huffs. It isn’t too long before the blond hands his paper back. Stephen doesn’t bother to glance at the grateful smile on Ulysses’ face. It would only agitate him more. Once the teacher enters the room, he immediately begins sifting through papers.

“I graded all of your tests from Monday, and I must say, I am impressed with a good few of you!” He compliments. The class begins to discuss among themselves before the teacher hushes them. “Linda, would you please pass out the papers?” He requests from one of the female students. One that Stephen despised the most. She grins and takes the papers diligently, reading the names and passing them out in no particular order.

“Man, I hate her…” The hick mumbles. “She’s so pretentious.”

“I dunno. She’s pretty nice.” Ulysses counters.

“You get along with girls better than I do, so you’d know.”

“I get along with people in general better than you do.” The larger boy teases.

“Doesn’t everyone?” Stephen mutters. Ulysses laughs quietly, but stops as soon as Linda approaches him. The two smile at each other.

“Better luck next time, Ulysses.” The girl says genuinely. Stephen huffs at her words and glances at the other boy’s paper, then up to his disappointed face.

“Forty five…” The larger boy mumbles. “I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be good, but this…”

“…Don’t beat yerself up about it…” The hick comforts as best he can. Linda then sets his paper on his desk.

“Huh…one hundred.” He hums. Ulysses rests his head on his hand.

“I expected no less from you. You’re one of the smartest people I know.”

“Oh, hush. I ain’t no smarter than you.” Stephen grumbles.

“I would disagree with that.”

“Ya just need to focus better. If ya do that, then you’ll be fine.”

“But I can’t. For some reason, it’s too hard for me.” Ulysses complains. Stephen goes silent, not knowing what else to say. The larger boy assumes Stephen was getting tired of him, and quiets down as well.

 

Lunchtime rolls around, and everyone makes their way to the bleachers. Stephen notices Johnny mumbling something to Emette, before he turns in his direction. Stephen leans back and groans, knowing that the boy was going to try and make conversation. Why couldn’t he take the hint and just leave him alone? Sure enough, Johnny takes a seat next to the redhead, but doesn’t smile or even look at him. Instead, he stares out into the field wordlessly. The redneck refuses to even look at the boy, and instead turns his eyes to a different side of the field. However, he finds himself glancing back at the boy a few times, wondering when he’ll finally make conversation. It takes the boy a moment, but he finally speaks. “What did you mean by that yesterday?” He asks bluntly. Stephen knew exactly what he was talking about and scowls.

“I meant what I said. Do you not understand what those words mean?” Johnny shakes his head.

“I understand what they mean. I just don’t understand why you said it. You act completely contradictory to what you said. I don’t see it.”

“Look, Johnny. I ain’t good at makin’ friends, aight? What I said is just that. I don’t hate you. But that don’t mean I like ya, either.” The hick claims. Johnny looks down at his orange and white shoes.

“Then what **do** you think of me?” He asks with no clear emotion in his voice. Stephen sighs.

“I’ll be honest with ya, I don’t know. Like I said, I ain’t good at makin’ friends. So, it’s hard fer me to care about people I don’t know.”

“I’d like to get to know you.” Johnny states, repressing a smile. Stephen lowers his brow in a more frustrated way, rather than angry.

“I don’t understand why. I ain’t nothin’ special. I’m about as low class as they come.”

“So what? I’m not special, either. I always blend in with the crowd and hardly anybody notices me. It wasn’t until I met Emette that I actually began to talk to people. Even still, I’m hard to pick out. It’s always like ‘Where’s Wally?’ with me. Heh.” The smaller boy chuckles.

“Tsk. Well, I c’ain’t really say the same fer myself. You could spot me from a mile away. That ain’t a good thing, though.”

“I dunno. You look really unique. I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Personally, I think it’s better to look different than to look bland. When you look bland, nobody notices you.” The redneck shrugs.

“Yeah, I don’t really wanna stand out, though.”

“Wanna swap appearances?” Johnny jokes. Stephen doesn’t smile, but lets out a small, huffed laugh.

“That’d be nice. Too bad it ain’t possible.”

“Yeah…” The two become silent once again. Stephen begins reflecting on their conversation and suddenly realizes that Johnny actually managed to rope him into a normal, friendly exchange. He blushes with embarrassment and turns his red face away from the other. Johnny takes notice and smiles, feeling a hint of admiration take over him.

 

(C-slur in this paragraph)

By the end of the day, Johnny was feeling exhausted. He lags behind Emette as they walk out to his convertible. The blonde boy actually takes his time opening the door and sliding in. Emette notices his sluggish behavior and chuckles. “You tired, Kid?” Johnny nods.

“Yeah. I really wanna get home to sleep.”

“Aw, that’s a shame. I was hoping you could come over to my place today so that we could hang.” Emette says with a grin. Johnny perks up immediately.

“I-I mean…I’m not **that** tired. I wouldn’t mind going over to your place.” The black haired boy chuckles once more at the boy’s reaction as he starts up the car and drives out of the parking lot.

“You think we should drive by your place to ask your mom or just call her when we get to my place?” Johnny hums in thought.

“Hmm…I think we should go by my place just to be sure.” Emette nods.

“Sounds like a plan to me!” There is a moment of silence before Johnny begins to speak in a rather joyous tone.

“I’m so excited to go over to your place again! It’s been so long.” Emette laughs.

“It’s only been a few days.”

“Well, yeah, but…I’ve only been over there once, so I guess that makes it feel like a lot longer time.” Johnny explains. “I just feel like we’re always hanging out over at my place. It’ll be nice to finally get a chance to be out of the house for a while.”

“Yeah, I feel ya. I like coming over to your place for the same reasons.”

“Tsk. At least **you** can drive. The only place I can go within walking distance is the library. And even that has become a danger recently ever since Justin and his gang have decided to start harassing me more often.” The blonde one informs. Emette frowns.

“Yeah…well, as long as I’m around, I don’t think they’ll be going after you anytime soon, Kid.”

“I don’t know about that. Yesterday in the hall, Justin stopped me and said something about getting rid of me, you, and the rest of the guys.” Emette quirks a brow.

“What?”

“Justin said something about us being, ‘pigs,’ and that he’d, ‘get our prep asses,’ if it was the last thing he did.” The blonde one says as he turns to glance at Emette. His face showed no clear emotion, although it looked to be bordering amusement.

“Heh. What a load of shit.” The black haired boy laughs. Johnny laughs as well.

“Heh, yeah. Like he’d ever try anything after you threatened him like that.” Despite saying this, Johnny wasn’t exactly feeling it. He looks out of the passenger side window, and Emette takes notice. He places a warm hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“Hey, Kid. Don’t worry. If he ever tries anything again, I’ll beat his brains out. Him and his other lackeys.” Johnny looks to him and smiles lightly as they park in his driveway. The two then exit the car and head up to Johnny’s porch. As soon as the boy opens the door, he sees his mother and the girls in the dining room drawing pictures. His mother smiles.

“Hello, Johnathon and Emette!”

“Emmy!” Janette is the first one to run up to Emette and hug his legs, then followed by Margaret and Sally. Emette laughs and leans down to pull all three of them into a group hug. Johnny smiles.

“Hey, girls. What about me? Did you forget about your own big brother?”

“I didn’t forget about you, Johnny!” Margaret says, transitioning from Emette’s body to Johnny’s. Sally and Janette soon follow her and the blonde boy gathers them all up into one big hug before releasing them. The girls run back into the dining room.

“Come draw with us!” Sally shouts and the other two children agree. Johnny rubs the back of his neck.

“Well…actually…I would, but Emette and I were going to go over to his house. If that’s okay with you, Mom.” The blonde boy looks to his mother who nods.

“Just be back before nine.” She says. All the girls make a disappointed noise in unison.

“Sorry girls. Maybe tomorrow. Love you!” Johnny and Emette both say goodbye before heading back over to the car. Johnny was now visibly excited. “I’m so stoked! What did you wanna do? Did you have something planned?” The black haired boy chuckles.

“Well…somewhat. But we’ll discuss that later. For now let’s just go with the flow, ‘kay?” Johnny nods as Emette pulls out of the driveway.

“Alright! I’m down for whatever, really. I mean, we could just sit around and do nothing and I’d be alright with that! But, I’d prefer if we actually did something, though.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?” The blonde one hums in thought.

“Hmm…I don’t know. I’ll do whatever you wanna do!” The black haired boy snickers.

“You shouldn’t always go off of that mindset, Kid. That’s a basic rule with me.” He jokes.

“Huh? Why?”

“You know how crazy I can be sometimes.” Johnny rubs the back of his neck.

“Heh. Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

 

Emette holds the door open for Johnny in a very gentlemanly fashion as soon as they arrive to his house. Johnny laughs and more than happily enters. He glances to the couch to see Mrs. Manning watching television and knitting. “Hello, Johnathon! Welcome back!” She greets. Johnny smiles.

“Hey!” His voice was still on the verge of nervousness, but it was over all much easier than the first time he met Emette’s parents. Of course, it also helped that Emette wasn’t slinging him around every five seconds like the first time, as well.

“Oh great. I thought I smelled another loser.” Sarah complains as she enters the room.

“When was the last time you took a shower?” Emette teases. The girl snarls.

“I was talking about him!” Emette quirks a brow and leans down to sniff at the back of Johnny’s neck.

“Smells fine to me.” He jests.

“Of course he does! Losers smell fine to other losers, noid!”

“Guess that’s why you smell fine to me, too!” Sarah growls and turns away to leave. “Aw, come on! You walked yourself into that one!” Once the girl is completely gone, Emette turns to Johnny. “I love messing with her.” He says. Johnny chuckles.

“I would never be able to joke around with my sisters like that. I’d feel too bad.” He claims.

“Well, that’s because you’re so far apart in age. Sarah and I have been messing with each other since Sarah could talk.”

“More like since Sarah could walk.” Mr. Manning says as he enters the room.

“Hey, Dad! Johnny’s here.”

“I see that. Did you bring him over to study?” Emette hums.

“Hmm…maybe. I was thinking more along the lines of something else.” Mr. Manning cocks an eyebrow.

“I’m not sure if I want to know what this ‘something else’ is or not.” He says.

“Aw, it’s nothing bad. I was just thinking of a little bit of Elton John, some beer, and maybe a bit of anal.”

“What?!” Johnny shouts. He knew Emette didn’t mean it, however, hearing the word “anal” come out of his mouth in a sentence regarding the two of them catches him off guard, to say the least. Emette ruffles the boy’s hair.

“Only a little bit, Kid!” Mr. Manning shakes his head.

“As long as I don’t hear any strange noises.” He jokes. He knew Emette was joking as well, therefore he doesn’t say anything more.

“I stand with your father on that subject.” Mrs. Manning comments. “Also, use protection.”

“You got it! Come on, Kid. Let’s go have some fun!”

“O-Okay, then…” Johnny replies with a beet red face. He follows Emette down into the basement.

“I hope I didn’t make you too uncomfortable, Kid. You know I’m just kidding.” The black haired boy says.

“No no! It’s cool! You just kind of caught me off guard with the anal thing, heh heh…” Johnny assures. “Wow. If I had said something like that to my mom, she would’ve killed me. How come your parents are so lax when it comes to you saying stuff like that?” Emette shrugs.

“I think by now they just expect it. I say inappropriate shit like that all the time. At this point, I don’t think they’d even be surprised if I weren’t joking at all, ha ha!”

“Wait, your parents are cool with you liking guys?” Johnny asks. Emette nods.

“Yep! My mom is the first one I ever told when I said I liked guys the same way that I liked girls. She was a bit taken aback, but said she loved me anyway. My dad was even more surprised, but at the end of the day said the same thing. I think he thought I’d grow out of it, but here I am, six years later and I’ve already dated three guys with no signs of stopping until I settle down with someone of either gender!” Emette breaks away from the boy for a moment to go into his bathroom and wash the gel out of his hair. Johnny smiles, although he isn’t sure why. Emette soon comes out and sees this. He ruffles his hair. “What’s got you so smiley?” Johnny laughs as his hair is rustled around.

“Ha ha! I-I don’t know. I guess I just think it’s kind of cool that your parents are so chill. They’re a lot more lenient than my mom is. I don’t even know what she’d do to me if I told her I was gay.” Emette cocks an eyebrow.

“ **Are** you gay?” He asks. Johnny sighs with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

“I don’t know, man.” He sits down on the other boy’s bed. “I’ve never really thought about it until after I told Ulysses about what happened on the park bench. He said something about us going together. I thought you were just being friendly. I didn’t see anything romantic about it. I guess it was the same way when we held hands in the ice cream shop. I was nervous because I’m not used to affection like that. At least…I wasn’t until we met. Maybe that’s why I immediately thought of it as a friendly gesture. Because I don’t really know what love is or what it feels like. So, even if I were in love with someone, I doubt I’d know.” Emette sits down next to the boy as he talks, his expression dullening as he speaks. “Did you mean all the affection you showed me to be romantic, Emette?” The blonde boy asks, glancing up at the other boy’s face. The black haired boy looks away silently.

“I-I don’t know, Kid. I just did what I thought felt right. And on the bench, you were the one who hugged me. I wanted to make you feel better…I mean…I would be lying if I said I was only doing it for you, but…” Emette shakes his head. “I don’t know.” Johnny hangs his head.

“…What would you do if I did like you more than a friend? Would you reject me?” The blonde one asks. Emette huffs a laugh.

“Nah. I don’t think I have the right to after all I’ve done.” Johnny looks back up to him.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, what I’m doing is confusing you a lot. I would feel bad saying no after I basically lured you in like a siren without even realizing it. And I won’t deny that I like you a lot.” The black haired boy smiles as Johnny’s eyes begin to sparkle. “But, that’s nothing to worry over right now. After all, you don’t even know if you like me yet, right?”

“U-Uh…right.” Johnny nods.

“I will tone down on all the affection and crude jokes if it makes you uncomfortable, though. Especially since you’re trying to figure yourself out right now.” The black haired boy assures. Johnny shakes his head almost immediately.

“No, no! I-I like the affection! And the crude jokes are funny! You don’t have to stop…”

“You sure, Kid?” Emette asks, grinning with amusement at the boy’s response. Johnny nods once again.

“Yeah. I have been initiating it sometimes, after all. Sometimes I just don’t know how to react because I’m not used to it. But it’s not like I don’t like it, heh heh…” The boy blushes and Emette throws an arm around his shoulder.

“That’s good. I’d miss being affectionate with you, Kid.”

“Y-Yeah…I’d miss being affectionate with you, too.” Johnny replies.

 

The two become silent after that. The lack of conversation feels extremely heavy and awkward to the boys, and they both desperately try to find something to talk about. The darker skinned boy soon stands and walks over to one of his shelves.

“I did say the last time I was over at your place that I would show you my action figures, didn’t I?” He asks. Johnny rises to his feet and wanders over to where Emette was standing. “Check these guys out.” The boy pushes some books aside and Johnny swoons.

“Wow! Cool!” Emette picks one up.

“You watch Transformers, right?”

“Cheeuh!”

“Well, little fun fact about me, Bumblebee is my favorite. This action figure cost me around forty-five bucks.” He holds it out closer to Johnny so that he can look.

“That’s awesome!” After the blonde one had looked it over thoroughly, Emette places it on the shelf. He then slides a He-Man action figure off of the shelf.

“I’m assuming you also like He-Man.”

“Hell yeah! He-Man is my favorite show!”

“Well, this one cost me about the same, but as you can see, I also bought Battle Cat, which cost me an additional twenty-five.”

“You have some expensive hobbies. How do you come up with all this money?”

“Allowance. I get ten a week if I do all my chores.”

“What?! I only get five!” Emette laughs and sets the figures back on the shelf.

“Well, my dad makes a pretty penny doing his job. Plus, we get some extra money on the side since my mom sells the stuff she knits and bakes. So, we’re very upper-middle class.”

“No kidding…” Johnny mumbles in disbelief. Emette reaches over and ruffles the stunned boy’s hair.

“You’re cute when you’re surprised.” He comments briefly, before heading over to his nightstand. He opens a drawer and retrieves a stack of magazines. “I also told you that I’d show you my magazines too.” He and Johnny take a seat on the bed as Emette sifts through the stack. “I’ll only show you the best ones.” He claims, setting a few on his lap. The one on top had a picture of a blonde woman in a small bikini. “I like this one a lot.” Emette says, as he opens the book and begins to flip through the pages filled with scantily clad women. Some of them were even naked. Johnny glances at the pictures, generally not interested in them in the way Emette would be. “Neat, huh?” Johnny shrugs.

“I mean, they’re pretty.” The darker skinned boy laughs.

“That’s it? Did you **see** the rack on this chick?” He points to a particular image of a rather buxom brunette woman. The blonde boy once again shrugs.

“I don’t really see the appeal of breasts. I mean, they’re only there to feed babies, and that’s it.” Emette closes the magazine and places it to the side, along with the one under it.

“Maybe I should show you something a little more hardcore.” The black haired boy opens the next one and flips ahead a few pages to a page that displayed a sexually suggestive scene between a man and a woman. Johnny quirks a brow.

“Is this really what you spend money on? I mean, all you can see of the guy is the lower half of his body, and the woman is in full display.” Emette bursts into laughter. Johnny lowers his brow.

"What’s so funny?”

“Kid, I really think you are gay! You’re more concerned about the guy than the girl!” Johnny suddenly realizes the implications behind his words and blushes.

“N-No! Th-that’s not what I meant! I-I just meant that it’s a little unfair to the man- I mean-…th-that doesn’t mean anything!” The boy pouts and Emette calms himself. He sets the next few magazines to the side.

“Alright then, let me show you this one.” He begins to flip through the pages of nude men doing sexually suggestive things. Johnny looks on, feeling more flustered than before, but overall not being too affected by it.

“I-I see that stuff in the locker room all the time. No big deal.” The blonde one claims with red cheeks.

“I can see you blushing, Kid.” Emette teases. Johnny removes his hat and covers his now burning face, warranting Emette to burst into laughter once again. Finally, the darker skinned boy sets all the magazines to the side and pats the other boy’s back. “It’s okay to be attracted to men, Kid. I’m not judging you. I don’t have any room to, considering I like men myself.” Johnny looks up to him with a miffed expression that soon melts down into a softer look.

“Yeah…I guess. People aren’t exactly that kind to men who like other men, though. I don’t want people to know that I like men.” He says, propping his head up on his hands.

“I understand that. I won’t tell anyone, Kid, don’t worry.” Emette assures. Johnny sits up and holds out his pinky.

“Pinky promise?” He smiles. Emette smiles as well and wraps his pinky around the other’s. The two become silent once more. This time, the silence isn’t as heavy or as negative. Emette soon remembers what he was going to tell Johnny yesterday. He begins to feel sick at the thought of telling him. He knows Johnny will most likely start crying, and he hates seeing that. The thought weighs down on him as he hesitates to translate it into words. He reluctantly opens his mouth, although it takes a moment for words to come out.

“Johnny…” He says, turning to face the boy. The blonde one looks up at him curiously.

“Hm?” He can see the pained expression on the other boy’s face. “What’s wrong?” The black haired boy takes his hands and holds them.

“Listen, Kid…I really hate to do this to you, but…we have to go back to the abandoned house tonight.” Johnny gasps and Emette looks away from his face to avoid staring into his watering eyes. He can hear the boy sniffle and his pained expression only worsens. “I know, Kid…I’ll make sure it’s over soon, though. I might not even have to hurt him, he’s most likely already dead.” These words come as no solace to the boy, however, as Emette can hear his sobbing become more intense. “I’m sorry.” The darker skinned boy finally musters up the courage to look at Johnny’s tear stained face. He reaches up to dry one of his cheeks, and Johnny tries his hardest to stop himself. “I really do hate to do this to you, Kid. But you know I can’t risk you telling anyone. Even if you said you won’t, I can’t take any chances. Please understand, Kid, I’m not trying to hurt you.” Johnny snivels and wipes his runny nose on his sleeve.

“I-I-I kn-…know…” He stutters. Emette looks away and pulls him into a hug, which Johnny accepts, holding him until he calms down.

 

Emette grabs a large bag and carries it with him as he and Johnny make their way over to his car. The sun had nearly completely set and it was beginning to get colder outside. Emette sets the bag in the back seat and slides behind the wheel. Johnny sits next to him and stares straight ahead silently. The black haired boy glances at him and sighs before turning the key and putting the car in drive. He slowly backs out of the driveway and speeds out of the neighborhood. Finally, after what seems like forever, Johnny speaks. “What’s in the bag?” He asks.

“Oh, just some clothes you can wear just in case you get any blood on you. I doubt you will, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, heh.” Emette chuckles. The other boy was far from smiling, however. Emette frowns and looks ahead once again. “Also, instead of referring to it as ‘the abandoned house,’ I figured from now on we should call it something else.”

“Like what?”

“I was thinking we could call it ‘The Keith House’ after the family that lived there.” The dark skinned boy suggests.

“Okay.” Johnny replies simply.

“You wanna hear the legend behind the house? I think you’d find it pretty cool.” Emette asks. Johnny glances over to him.

“Uh…sure.”

“Awesome! I’ve been waiting to tell this story. So, back in the fifties, there was this family called the Keith family. They consisted of a husband and a wife, a grandmother, and three young boys in elementary school. Back in those days, most of Willow Water was still wilderness; there was no park, no library, and no shops. The area consisted only of a small road leading past the high school and Oak Flats. Hell, my neighborhood, Stoney Point, didn’t even exist back then! My house was basically all woods! Anyway, needless to say, the Keith house was very secluded. Now, this was all during the Cold War, and people were afraid of two things more than anything: One: Communism, Two: Bombs. And the Keith family was **especially** afraid of bombs! So, Mr. Keith decided to build an underground bomb shelter in the house that was only accessible through a little hatch in the floor. Now, Mr. Keith was the most paranoid of them all. I’m talking about, believed aliens were beaming thoughts into his head, thought the government was spying on him, thought other people could hear his thoughts type of paranoid. So, the Cold War was definitely not the best time for him to be around. Anyway, he would frequently accuse his family of being communists; even turned one of his sons into the police!”

“What?!”

“Yeah! He was nuts! So, Mr. Keith would live with his family in this house until the seventies, when suddenly, everyone in the Keith house would vanish without a trace!”

“Wait, they vanished out of nowhere?”

“Yep! One day the kids- now all grown up- stop showing up to work and no one ever hears from them ever again.”

“So, they just left all of their stuff behind?”

“Mhm. Car and all.” Johnny sits back in astonishment.

“Holy cow…that’s wild.”

“Yep! It’s just a legend, though. Nobody really knows what happened in that house. Hell, only the **really** old folks know about the bomb shelter! My great grandfather is the one who told me the legend.” Emette claims.

“Still, there’s gotta be some truth behind it.” Johnny says. Emette nods in agreement.

“Yeah. I mean, the part about the bomb shelter is obviously true. One theory that people suggest is that Mr. Keith murdered his entire family and buried them all in the woods before running away on foot.” Johnny cringes.

“That’s disturbing…”

“Cheeuh! No kidding. That’s why a lot of kids like to say that it’s haunted.”

“It **looks** haunted.”

“I don’t know about haunted, but I do know that I got bitten by a brown recluse in there once.” Emette says. Johnny cringes even harder.

“Oh great. Now I gotta look out for spiders, too…”

“Ah, I wouldn’t worry too much. As long as you steer clear of any holes or cracks, you’ll be fine. I got bit when I was cleaning out the bomb shelter so that there wouldn’t be any spiders down there. Ironic, huh?” Johnny laughs.

“I don’t know about ironic, but it is kinda funny.”

“Heeey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Emette jokes.

“That was the world telling you not to kill people, Emette!” Johnny teases.

“Welp, the world better try harder! I won’t be stopped **that** easily!” Emette jests, reaching over and ruffling Johnny’s hair as he parks the car in a secluded spot in the woods.

 

(Emeto and gore in this paragraph)

Johnny lets Emette lead him cautiously towards the front door of the house. He grasps the boy’s hand tightly as he listens to the gentle wind rustle the trees. In Emette’s other hand, he holds the bag that contains the clothes. Without hesitation, Emette forces the rickety door open and leads the way inside, leaving Johnny with the job of closing it behind them. The blonde one once again takes the other boy’s hand as they walk on the noisy floorboards towards the hatch. After a few steps, the black haired boy stops and bends down. He slides his hand across the ground until he feels the tiny knob. He slowly creaks it open and begins to descend the stairs with Johnny following. Johnny’s heart was throbbing and sweat was beginning to collect on his skin as he closes the hatch. Emette can feel how clammy his palm was and opts to grip it a bit tighter in fear that it may slip away. They reach the bottom eventually and Johnny swallows the lump in his throat. Everything was pitch black and Johnny begins to wonder how many times Emette had come down here to the point where he could navigate in the dark so easily. He was debating on asking him, but decides the answer would only serve to cause him more distress. They soon round the corner where the man was laying. _“The Killing Room.”_ Johnny thinks to himself. Emette flips on the light switch and the dull bulb illuminates the room with a sickly yellow glow. The blonde boy scrunches up his nose as the smell of stale blood hits his nostrils. He wonders how Emette could stand the nauseating smell of iron that filled the back of his throat and sat on his tongue. It almost felt like blood was sticking to his throat, and no matter how many times he swallowed, it wouldn’t go away. Emette sets the bag on the table and rummages through it for a moment. He soon pulls out a leather jacket and hands it to Johnny.

“Here, Kid. Put this on.” The blonde boy does as he says without question. Next, Emette hands him a pair of leather pants. “And these.” He continues. Johnny once again follows his instruction. Finally, Emette hands him a baseball cap, black shoes, black leather gloves, and a surgical mask, much like the ones he wore. “Wear the hat with the bill facing forward and stuff your hair into it.” Emette instructs. Johnny obeys and puts everything on. He slips out of his sneakers and nudges them to the side. Emette gets dressed in the same way he did; wearing everything he wore. Johnny didn’t feel like questioning where the other boy got all of these things from. Instead, he stands back and watches the other slowly approach the dying man. Emette gives him a hard kick that makes an audible noise on impact. Johnny winces and shuts his eyes. However, curiosity pries them open once more and he gazes at Emette, awaiting the verdict. “Heh,” Emette laughs, “it’s amazing how strong the human will to live is.” Although Emette didn’t explicitly say it, Johnny knows that meant the man was still alive. He can feel his stomach twist and he swallows his tears as he turns away. “I’ll try to make this quick. You’re on your last leg, after all.” The black haired boy reaches over to the table and grabs his machete. Emette approaches him, and with one swift motion, slices an arm off. Johnny can hear the thud and crack of the man’s bone. He shivers and wretches as the man lets out a meek, but noticeable cry. There was hardly any blood left to be spilt, Emette comes to find, as he severs the rest of the victim’s limbs. Next, he takes his time slowly gutting out his large intestine. Johnny makes the mistake of turning around briefly. He sees Emette yank out the organ violently. That was it for the boy, as he fumbles to find the trashcan Emette had told him about. He flings off his mask and barely makes it to the trashcan. Soon, he is spilling his guts himself. He gags and heaves as massive amounts of bile and partially digested food purge from his stomach. Emette can hear the boy puking and ceases gutting the man. He looks down as the man begins to take his final breaths. He sighs angles himself beside the man’s head. He raises his blade and quickly cleaves the man’s neck in half, severing his head and ultimately ending his suffering. He then glances over to Johnny, whose body was quivering as he pants for breath. Emette feels a tremendous amount of guilt for putting the other boy through all this. He unchains the man’s limbs and tosses them to the side as he gathers up the intestines. He places all the severed body parts in a corner and begins to examine what was left of the corpse. “Hey, Kid.” He says in a soft voice. “I’m just gonna finish separating his body parts, and then we’ll leave, okay?” Johnny makes a weak noise in acknowledgement as he tries to steady his nerves. Thank God he took his medicine this morning. If he hadn’t he would definitely be having a panic attack right now. The murderer then resumes gutting him. He removes his heart, lungs, kidneys, spleen, stomach, small intestine, reproductive organs, etc. and places them all in the pile. After that, he cuts off the hands and feet from their respective limbs. Finally, he cuts the torso in half twice along the spine, leaving him with four sections. This all, of course, was not an easy task due to him having to cut through thicker bone and fat. Over all, this takes him around thirty minutes, which seemed like an eternity to Johnny. Emette examines the organs and separates them by size, putting the larger ones in one pile and the smaller ones in another, along with placing the limbs their own pile. He disappears for a moment, entering another room beside the Killing Room. He returns with four large suitcases and a bucket of water. Three of the suitcases were black and the last one was a dark brown. At this point, Johnny had let his curiosity take over and had turned around to examine what Emette was doing. The black haired boy proceeds to scrub all the organs clean of blood, sometimes squeezing it out of them. He does the same with the limbs and hollow sections of torso. All of the bloody water pooled below the boy’s feet. Everything the blonde one was witnessing was making him feel ill again. Although, somewhere in those feelings of disgust, Johnny couldn’t help but be impressed by how clever his friend was. Even though he had no idea why he was washing the organs or why he had cut the torso into sections, he knows this was all part of some clever technique.

“D-Do y-you…” Johnny begins shakily, “…a-always wash the organs?” The blonde one asks. Emette looks up from his work and chuckles.

“Heh. Yeah. It’s so that there won’t be any blood leaking out of the suitcases.” He informs. Johnny nods, suddenly finding himself interested in Emette’s process of getting rid of the bodies. Despite this interest, he was still fully disturbed. After thoroughly washing the blood from the organs and limbs, Emette dries them with a towel and places them in suitcases; one for the larger organs, one for the smaller organs, one for the arms and hands, and one for the legs and feet. “We’re gonna have to make two trips. I suppose we’ll get rid of this today and then the rest tomorrow. How’s that sound?” Johnny makes a whiny noise in his throat, but agrees nonetheless. The murderer then clicks the suitcases closed and motions the boy over. “I’m glad I’ve got you to help me out with this now. I’ll carry the organs if you’ll carry the limbs. They’re gonna be a little heavy, just warning ya.” The blonde boy cringes and looks upon the two suitcases with revulsion. “Let’s change back into our regular clothes first, then we’ll deal with carrying the body parts.” Johnny reluctantly obliges, and the two boys change back into their normal clothes. Johnny stares at the suitcases for a good minute before hesitantly grabbing the handles and pulling them up. Emette was right. They were heavy. With that, the two then ascend the stairs, exit the house, and head back to the car.

 

(Gore in this paragraph)

Once at the car, Emette pops the trunk that looked to already have something in it. “How are we supposed to fit these in there if you already have stuff in it?” Johnny asks. Emette flashes him a sly grin, before grabbing a hold of something and lifting it up. The luggage in the trunk flips back to reveal a hidden space underneath where the suitcases would fit. Johnny’s eyes widen in awe. “How did you do that?”

“I created this little secret compartment myself. Neat, huh?” The darker skinned boy states proudly.

“Wow…” The blonde boy says in disbelief. “You manage to amaze me more and more each day…” Emette laughs and slides all four suitcases in the secret compartment. They barely fit as he closes the top of the compartment and then the trunk.

“Hop in, Kid. I’ll show you where I dispose of these things.” Johnny slides into the passenger seat and Emette into the driver’s seat. He then puts the key in the ignition and begins to drive out of the woods and onto the road. They drive out of town and onto the emptier roads that people seldom drove on at night. Johnny looks up at the full moon above them. It shined like a big white eye; casting its watchful glow upon them.

 _“If the moon could talk…”_ Johnny thinks to himself, _“I bet she’d keep our secret.”_ He gazes into her eye silently, still thinking. _“Maybe. She’s the only one besides us who knows.”_ Johnny looks ahead at the road. “Let’s hope the moon doesn’t learn how to talk.” He says aloud. Emette quirks a brow.

“What?”

“The moon. She’s the only one who knows our secret besides us. If she knew how to speak, she might talk too much and end up revealing our secret.” Johnny speaks with sincerity, although he knows what he’s saying must sound ridiculous to Emette.

“Is that something you’re really worried about? Or are you just being poetic?” The black haired boy asks. Johnny smiles.

“I’m just being poetic, ya goof.” The blonde boy chuckles as Emette ruffles his fluffy hair.

“You’re a real E. E. Cummings, Kid.” Emette jests. Johnny laughs. This night wasn't turning out so bad after all. Aside from all the gore and Johnny puking, that is. It doesn’t take the boys long until they come upon a landfill. Johnny looks over at Emette.

“This is where you dump the dead bodies?” The black haired boy nods.

“Yep! Cedartown’s landfill. It’s the closest landfill to Willow Water that I could find. Luckily it’s just outside our town.” Emette parks the car and slips out, followed by Johnny, who was beginning to feel paranoid.

“I-Isn’t there someone who could see us?” He asks.

“Nope! No one’s working at these hours. Besides, even if they were, no one’s gonna question two strangers coming to dump off some garbage.”

“What if someone catches us?”

“Then we’ll tell them it’s Halloween decorations! Simple as that.”

“Emette, why would we be dumping off Halloween decorations if Halloween is only a couple months away? Wouldn’t someone find that suspicious?” Emette snickers.

“I was just joking, Kid. No one’s gonna see us, don’t worry.” The two boys begin walking as they speak.

“Okay, but what if someone finds the body parts in the landfill and calls the cops?” Emette snorts.

“These guys never look at the stuff that gets dumped here. Besides, by the time they do find this stuff, it’ll already be decomposed to the point where it’s unrecognizable and they’ll probably just think it’s some kind of dead animal.”

“But what about when you get rid of the skull next?”

“See, I make sure to remove the teeth, shave the head, and then smash the skull to a bloody pulp before I get rid of it. I throw the hair as far away from the body as possible, then bury the teeth.”

“Why do you remove the teeth?”

“So that if the police **did** find the skull, they wouldn’t be able to match dental records. Also, if you noticed, I scraped the skin off of the palms of the man’s hands and feet so that they won’t be able to get any prints in the case that they find them.”

“You must’ve put a lot of research into this stuff.”

“Well, I **am** a murderer after all. I kind of have to know all this stuff.” Emette boasts. He soon stops walking and gazes down. That’s when Johnny notices that they were standing on a small ledge overlooking part of the landfill. “Just open the suitcases and dump the stuff here. After that, I’ll take you home.” Emette explains. Johnny nods and carefully dumps the severed limbs as Emette dumps the organs. “See? That didn’t take long. Now, let’s get you home. Hopefully you’ll make it in time for your curfew. If you don’t, I’ll tell your mom it was my fault.” Johnny nods as they begin to walk back towards the car. Johnny can still feel his nerves fussing over all this.

“Emette…” He begins quietly, “I know you said those guys don’t check, but what if one of them does happen to find the body parts?”

“Kid, I’ve been doing this ever since I could drive on my own and I’ve put tons of research into this. There are so many factors that’ll keep us from getting caught.” Emette begins counting on his fingers. “One: we have no connection to these people whatsoever. Two: I made sure that there was no way of identifying his body. Three: Remember when I killed that guy back a few days ago?”

“Yeah?”

“No one has even questioned me since then. And finally, no one knows about the bomb shelter in the Keith House but us. Unless one of us ends up spilling the beans or someone catches us in the act of killing or disposing of the bodies, there is no way we’re getting caught.” Emette assures, as he starts up the car and pulls out of the landfill.

“Okay.” Johnny says. “I trust you.”

“Good. There’s nothing to worry about, Kid. It’s like that Bob Marley song goes:

‘Don’t worry

About a thing.

Cause every little thing

Is gonna be alright~’” Emette sings, warranting a laugh from the other boy.

“I didn’t know you could sing.” He says.

“Yep! I don’t mean to brag, but I’m a pretty good singer.” Emette claims. Johnny snickers at the boy’s boasting.

 

Johnny manages to make it home in time for curfew. He and Emette say their goodbyes and Johnny heads straight to bed without eating dinner. He had lost his appetite, needless to say. He just tells his mom that Emette had gotten him something to eat to avoid her nagging him about not eating. He removes everything but his shirt and underwear and flops down on his bed. He groans into his pillow as he reflects on everything he had witnessed that night. Now he knew Emette’s entire process when it came to murdering his victims. He is surprised that he didn’t feel more traumatized by the whole situation. After all, he **was** carrying a man’s severed limbs in a suitcase for a while. Perhaps it was the fact that Emette had eased his mind about being caught. Or the fact that Emette was able to make him laugh despite the immense fear and disgust he was feeling throughout the entire ordeal. Whatever it was, Johnny was grateful for it. He soon finds himself shutting off his lamp and curling up under the covers. He was more than ready for a good night’s rest. This whole day had been one big information dump onto his psyche. Although, he doubts he’d be forgetting any of it anytime soon. As he drifts off to sleep, he begins to think about how much different organs looked in real life compared to in his anatomy textbooks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank y'all for being so patient with this update. I know it took me a while, and I apologize for that. The good news is, though, that it's almost summer. I'll have tons of time over summer to work on Killer Idol. Thank you homies for reading and being interested in my story!
> 
> Oh! Also. I plan on starting on my other story, "Ozzy and Pete" soon as well. It should have shorter chapters and more frequent updates than Killer Idol, so if y'all wanna read that when I eventually get around to writing it, I would very much appreciate that! You could read it while waiting a month or more for the next Killer Idol update, lol.


	11. Scent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inhale the gayness~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warnings:  
> Gore, blood, emetophobia, rape mention.
> 
> WOW it's been a long time since I've posted a chapter! It's been at least 4 months. I didn't even have school 2 of those 4 months! I only started back literally today.  
> Thanks for being so patient, to those of you who have waited this long. I'm so sorry if you've lost interest in KI because of my hiatus. Anyway, this chapter is decently long, I think. I hop you all enjoy this chapter that took WAY too long to write!
> 
> Also, thank you to my friend, Gusty (mom), who helped me translate the more complex Spanish that I couldn't translate myself! You saved mi culo, there, buddy!

Stephen’s alarm blares in his ears. He grits his teeth and slams his fist down on the machine to shut it off. He sits up and rubs his sleep deprived eyes as he flings back the covers and arises from his bed. He slowly makes his way over to his drawer and retrieves some clothes before exiting his room and entering the bathroom. He takes a quick five minute shower and gets dressed before brushing his teeth. He had a feeling he wouldn’t be eating breakfast this morning, so it didn’t really matter if he brushed his teeth before he was supposed to be eating. As he exits the bathroom, the sounds of three tiny voices screaming at each other jabs into his eardrums. He grumbles something under his breath as he walks into the living room. He glances over to the breakfast table to see his teenage sister, Jessica calmly eating and reading a magazine. He doesn’t pay her any mind to avoid risking having an outburst from one of her irritatingly cheeky comments. However, his three younger siblings were much harder to ignore. One of the little girls comes running up to him with tears in her eyes. She looked to be the youngest of the three and had long, strawberry blonde hair and freckles with big green eyes. “Stephen! Stephen!” She cries as she runs to hide behind his legs. That’s when he notices a little boy following suit behind her. He was a bit bigger than her and had reddish brown hair and freckles with blue eyes. “Stephen, Lawrence hit me with a rock!”

“It weren’t a rock! It was a pebble!” Lawrence corrects. Stephen looks down to the boy’s tiny hands to see him holding a slingshot and a handful of pebbles. The older boy snarls and snatches the slingshot.

“What’d Ma and tell ya ‘bout playin’ with this thing?!” He growls.

“Pa was the one that gave it to me!”

“It don’t matter! Ma said you ain’t allowed to play with it! Now quit botherin’ yer sisters and go get ready fer school!” The smaller boy pouts and stomps his feet.

“But I don’t wanna!” He whines.

“Or,” Stephen begins, as he walks around the boy, “I can just tell Ma that you were playin’ with the slingshot when she told ya not to.” Lawrence runs over to Stephen and frantically begins pulling at the loose denim of his pant leg.

“No! No! Mama’ll whoop me if she finds out!” He pleads.

“Then go get ready fer school!” Stephen points to Lawrence’s room. Lawrence stomps away as Stephen places the slingshot up on top of the highest shelf so that it was out of the child’s reach. He looks over to the little girl who was still crying. “Lydia.” Stephen calls out to the girl. She looks up at him. “Did he hit yer eye?” The girl shakes her head. “Are ya bleedin’?” She shakes her head once again. “Is anything broken?” She shakes her head. “Then quit yer cryin’ and get ready fer school.” Stephen says in a seemingly heartless way. Lydia dries her eyes and obeys. He then looks over to the other girl. She was the oldest of the three and had nappy brown hair, blue eyes, and crooked teeth. “Annabelle, go get ready fer school.” Stephen requests. She nods and follows the other children without question. The ginger lets out an exhausted sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

“I’m surprised ya didn’t go off on ‘em like ya did yesterday.” Jessica comments from the kitchen. Stephen huffs.

“Shut up.” Jessica grins, showing her buck teeth, and adjusts her big, round glasses.

“Why don’t ya eat somethin’? Ain’t ya hungry?” She asks, pretending to care about his wellbeing.

“Since when did you care if I was hungry er not?”

“I don’t. I’m just sayin’, maybe if ya ate somethin’ ya wouldn’t be such a dickweed all day.”

“What’d you call me?!” The boy shouts.

“Stephen!” The deep voice of an older man shuts the boy up. Stephen seals his lips and turns in the direction of the voice. A big, fat, balding man with a beard that was just as red as Stephen’s hair walks in, followed by a shorter woman with straight, muddy brown hair and blue eyes. Stephen and the man lock their green eyes together before Stephen passively looks away.

“Sorry, Pa.” He says.

“Did ya feed the animals yet?” The man asks.

“No sir.” Stephen replies.

“Then get to it.”

“Yessir.” Stephen says obediently as he turns to leave. He glares at Jessica, who pushes her puffy red hair out of her face to return his look with her cunning, emerald eyes. She gives him a sassy little wave as he exits the back door. He knew for a fact that the girl was getting him riled up just so that he would yell and get in trouble with his parents.

 

The blonde boy stands stalk still as he stares at the blackness that lay before him. His body was quivering as he tries his best to speak, however, he can hear no words. His breath was huffing out in small white clouds in the freezing air. After moments of trying his best to force his legs to move, they slowly begin to step forward one after the other. They were heavy as if they were filled with lead, and it takes all of the boy’s strength to lift them. Despite having no idea where he is going, Johnny fearfully navigates in the dark; blind as a bat. Suddenly, he hears footsteps from behind him. Something in his mind was telling him not to turn around and to just run. Making as much haste as possible, he starts to run to the best of his ability, noticing how the footsteps were beginning to match his pace. It isn’t long before they begin to get faster than his. Dread was filling the boy’s psyche as his head slowly turns to look behind him; nothing. Gradually, his footsteps slow, and he stands still once more. The other footsteps halt as well. Johnny breathes a sigh of relief. An abrupt force knocks him to the ground. Johnny jolts awake with a gasp. He glances around his room and quickly turns on his lamp. He wipes the sweat from his forehead before flinging over the covers and getting out of bed. He makes his way to his bathroom and readies himself for the day. The dream replays over and over again in his mind. He notices how he is still shaking from the experience and takes a steadying breath to calm his nerves. He hopes to God that the girls are getting along this morning. It doesn’t take him long to realize that he is still tired. As the boy descends the stairs, he hears bickering and groans to himself. He makes his way into the living room and glares down at the children. They immediately stop their arguing and look up to him. Johnny takes the remote from Sally’s hand and, without a word, switches the television over to the science channel, where a documentary on planets was playing. “Since you girls can’t agree on what to watch, you’re going to watch the science channel this morning.” He says. They all whine in protest. _“I’m too tired to deal with this crap.”_ He thinks to himself, as he sits down to eat his cereal. There was milk on the table, but he decides to just eat it dry. He couldn’t be bothered with pouring anything today. After breakfast, he says an early goodbye to everyone and heads on to school, all the while his dream kept replaying in his head. He hears the familiar voice of Tyrese not too long into his walk.

“Hey, Little Buddy! You want a ride?” The larger boy asks. Johnny sighs.

“I’ll take you up on that offer today.” He says, as he opens the back door and scoots in. Ulysses smiles at him, but he only stares out his window.

“Something wrong?” Tyrese inquires. Johnny shrugs.

“Rough morning?” Ulysses asks. Johnny nods. “Oh…well, I’m sorry about that. I had a rough morning, too. I know it sucks.”

“Yeah.” The shorter boy replies. Like last time, the two larger boys continue their previous conversation.

“Did you happen to catch the news this morning?” Tyrese asks Ulysses, who shakes his head.

“No. I hardly had time to eat breakfast.” He laughs. “Why? Was there something important that happened?”

“I wouldn’t call it ‘important’ but it was definitely shocking.”

“Oh yeah? What was it?”

“They found a human arm in Cedartown landfill this morning!” Johnny’s heart drops to his stomach and sweat begins to drip down his face.

“They what?!” Johnny shouts.

“I know! Crazy, right?”

“Did they find the rest of the body?” Ulysses asks.

“Nah, but they’re looking.” Tyrese replies.

 _“Oh no, oh no, oh no! Not good! Not good!”_ Johnny’s mind begins to shout. He feels sick to his stomach and knows a panic attack would be following. _“Please let us get to school before then.”_

Once they arrive at school, Johnny frantically paces in the commons area, waiting impatiently for Emette near the double doors. Once he hears the familiar, “Hey, Kid!” he whips around and bolts over to the boy, gripping his jacket.

“Emette! Did you happen to catch the news this morning?” The black haired boy takes a step back in surprise.

“No? Why?”

“They found an arm…in the landfill…” Johnny’s breathing was becoming fast and uneven. Emette gives him a surprised look for a moment, but soon places a hand on his head in reassurance.

“Don’t worry, Kid. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Let’s talk about this after school, though, okay?” He suggests. Johnny swallows and nods, taking solace in the fact that he knew Emette had a plan. He always had a plan, it seemed.

“I-I’m sorry…” The blonde boy apologizes. “I had a pretty rough morning, and then I heard about the news from Tyrese, a-and…”

“Shhh…” Emette gently embraces the boy. “It’s okay. There’s nothing you need to apologize for.” His voice is soft and caring as he speaks, calming Johnny’s nerves and evening out his breathing. Johnny closes his eyes and returns the embrace, his head resting on the other boy’s chest. Emette rubs his back, not caring in the slightest about any of the kids who were staring at them. Once Johnny pulls away, he looks up to Emette, who was softly smiling down at him. He blushes and smiles back. “You wanna go to the water fountain or something, Kid? You look like you might need a little water.” The black haired boy suggests. Johnny nods.

“Yeah. I think I could use some, too.” As the two begin to walk, Emette places a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“Do you wanna talk about your morning?” He asks. Johnny debates on whether he should tell Emette anything or not. With a sigh, he begins to retell his story of this morning.

“I just had a really bad dream, and I woke up kind of irritable and tired.” He says. Emette raises his eyebrows.

“Really? Do you want to talk about the dream?” Johnny displays an uncomfortable expression.

“Well…it was dark, and I started walking, but I could barely move. I had no idea where I was going. I heard someone following me, so I ran as fast as I could, but when I turned around, nothing was there. So, I thought I was safe, but then…” Johnny shakes his head. “I-I guess I died, or something. I don’t know.” Emette nods.

“Sounds scary.”

“It was. I just really don’t want to have another dream like that. I mean, I’m stressed enough as it is.”

“I’m sure they’ll go away soon, Kid. After all, you can’t have a nightmare **every** night, right?” Emette says. Before Johnny can reply, he suddenly bumps into someone.

“Whoops! I’m sorry! I-…”

“Watch it geek!” The girl he bumped into shouts. Her friends all stare at him judgmentally. “Oh, it’s **you**. You get shorter every time a see you, **Carmichael**.” She puts emphasis on his name with a hint of disgust in her tone. Johnny looks away anxiously, not knowing what to say.

“Hey,” Emette begins with a miffed expression, “he’s not short.” The girl turns to the other boy to scowl, but her expression immediately changes once she lays eyes on his face. The other three girls with her quickly crowd around him. Emette blinks, unsure of what to do.

“Hello, gorgeous.” The girl coos, leaning in closer to him and pushing her blonde bangs out of her face.

“How’s it going, average?” Emette jokes. The other girls gasp but the blonde one only chuckles.

“You’re funny! Are you new here?”

“Uh, no…I’ve been here since like, the last half of junior year.”

“Where are you from?” A brunette girl asks.

“You look Mexican. Are you from Mexico?” The blonde girl asks. Johnny watches all of this unfold with crossed arms and an angry scowl on his face. Emette grins, realizing the opportunity he now has.

“Actually, I’m Ecuadorian.” He answers truthfully.

“Oh wow. What’s your name?” The blonde one inquires. Emette leans in close to her face.

“My name is, ‘Fernando Pescado,’ Mi Amor.” He takes her hand and places a small kiss on it. Johnny snorts at the name, but is back to scowling as he watches Emette show the girl affection. The blonde squeals with delight at the gesture.

“Oh my goodness! You’re such a gentleman! Say something in Spanish.”

“Anything?”

“Anything!”

“Si tuve una cara como tuyo, voy a tendría matar los padres miyos.” Emette says in his smoothest voice. All the girls swoon. Finally the blonde girl leans in and asks,

“I was wondering if I could maybe get your nombre?” Emette quirks a brow.

“Mi nombre? Mi nombre es Fernando.” He answers. All the girls give him confused looks.

“No, not your name. Like, your digits.” The blonde claims. Emette cocks his head to the side slightly, pretending not to understand.

“Mis digitos?”

“No! Not your dihitos! Like, your number!”

“Oh! Mi numero!”

“Yeah!”

“Veinticinco!”

“In English, please.”

“Twenty-five! That’s the number on the back of my jersey.”

“What? No! Your **phone** number!”

“Mi numero de telefono?”

“In English!”

“Oh! It’s uh…” Emette lists off a phone number and the girl writes it down in her notebook.

“Gracias, Fernando. I’ll call you tonight.” The girl says as she begins to head off. All the girls except the brunette follow. Emette looks to her and smiles. She only stares back with angry eyes. Emette blinks and waves.

“Bye now!” He says. The girl crosses her arms. “What?”

“You can’t **seriously** want to go out with Lena. She’s such a loser!” She scoffs.

“Well, I kinda don’t. That’s why I gave her the number to the Taco Bell up the street.” Emette laughs. The brunette immediately beams and leans in close to him. Emette leans back in surprise.

“Can **I** have your number, then? My name’s Maya Croswell!” The boy backs away slowly.

“Uh…sorry, I kind of already have a significant other.” Maya crosses her arms once more and glowers at him.

“What’s her name? I wanna talk to her.”

“Her name is, Jaunita, but we call her, ‘Juan’ for short.” Maya scoffs and stomps away. Emette laughs and throws an arm around Johnny’s shoulder. “Sorry about that, Kid. They called me Mexican, I **had** to mess with them.” Johnny unfolds his arms and laughs.

“It’s okay. I’m glad you did, honestly.” The two boys begin walking again once the bell rings. “By the way, why did you give her the number to Taco Bell? Why not like, the police department or something? Wouldn’t that have been crueler?”

“I figured I’d make this a little bit ironic. Besides, my buddy Shawn is working there tonight. I’m gonna call him up and see if he’ll pretend to be Fernando for me.” Johnny laughs just as they reach their classroom. “I promise we’ll talk about the stuff on the news more when we get in the car today.” Emette says. Johnny nods.

“Okay.” Although the boy still feels anxious about the whole situation, he trusts his friend fully. The two enter the classroom and take their seats. Johnny focuses his attention on the teacher intently the entire period to prevent his mind from wandering.

 

When lunchtime rolls around, all the boys resume their usual places on the bleachers, with the exception of Johnny who was still making his way up the steps. “Ah, shit.” Emette mutters.

“What’s wrong?” Johnny asks, before he can take his seat.

“I forgot to get a milk.”

“Oh. I can go get you one!” The blonde boy kindly offers.

“You don’t have to do that for me, Kid.”

“It’s okay! I’m already up, anyways. White milk, right?” Emette begins to argue against him going, but knows the boy will persist. Instead, he smiles.

“Yeah. Thanks, Kid.” Johnny grins, excited to finally be doing something for Emette for a change instead of the other way around.

“If he’s not back in five minutes, I’m gonna make sure Justin’s gang didn’t get him.” Tyrese claims. Emette nods. Johnny only takes a couple, however, as he quickly grabs a milk carton from the place where white milks usually sat and rushes out of the building and back towards the bleachers. He sits down and hands Emette his milk before opening up his lunch. Not even two bites into his sandwich, he hears Emette spit out his milk and begin gagging. Everyone swiftly scoots away from the boy when he vomits onto the bleachers below them. Johnny is too shocked and worried to look away like the rest of the boys were. When Emette finally ceases his puking, he calmly wipes his mouth on a napkin, trying to catch his breath. The two larger boys and Stephen had now moved up a couple levels and were making their way to the isle of the bleachers. Johnny remains slightly closer to Emette and on the same level as him.

“I’m gonna go tell Ms. Peterson.” Ulysses says to the other guys.

“No!” Emette shouts, making the boys jump. “I’m fine.”

“Well…we’re going to eat in the lunchroom, then. Join us if you feel better.” Tyrese says. With that, the three boys walk off. Johnny covers his nose with his jacket and looks at Emette’s skin, which had become a little sicklier in tone.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Emette?” Johnny asks.

“I thought I said white milk, Kid!” Emette suddenly becomes angry. Confused, Johnny stares at him.

“But…I **did** get you white milk!” Emette picks up the carton that was laying on the ground and practically shoves it in the boy’s face.

“ **This** isn’t white!” He growls. Johnny’s eyes widen in surprise.

“What?! But I got it from where the white milks always are!”

“You didn’t bother to check it before you brought it to me?!”

“You didn’t bother to check it before you drank it?!” Emette tries to think of a counterargument, but Johnny seemed to have won this one. The black haired boy sighs and pours the rest of the milk out into his vomit before chucking the carton out as far as he can. “I’m sorry…” He hears Johnny say. He looks back to Johnny, whose eyes looked fearful and guilty. Emette couldn’t stay mad at him. It wasn’t really his fault. He places a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“It’s alright, Kid. You didn’t know.” Emette steps around him. “Come on, Kid. Let’s go inside and eat with everyone, I guess.”

“Okay, then.” The blonde boy replies, still obviously upset. The two boys walk beside each other silently until Johnny decides to ask the question that had been on his mind. “So, are you like…allergic to chocolate milk, or something?”

“Yeah, we’ll go with that.” The black haired boy answers cryptically. Johnny once again goes silent. Emette can tell that the other boy was still blaming himself. “Look, Kid. I didn’t mean to get so upset back there. It wasn’t your fault.” He reassures. Johnny sighs.

“I just wanted to do something nice for you, since you’re always doing nice stuff for me all the time. But I messed up.” He feels Emette’s hand ruffling his hair.

“It’s no biggy, Kid. You’ve done plenty of nice things for me!”

“Really? Like what?”

“Well…uh…” Emette pauses, trying to remember an example. “You complimented me that one time by saying I was special. That boosted my ego!” Johnny smiles.

“It did?”

“Yep! See? You’re helpful!” Johnny laughs, causing Emette to grin as they walk through the double doors. They begin searching the room for the other three boys. When they spot them, they quickly make their way over. Before they can take a seat, however, Ulysses stands up to face Emette.

“U-Um…” He begins anxiously. “Ms. Peterson wants you.” Emette’s eyes widen and Ulysses prepares himself for physical conflict in case it were to happen. Emette scowls.

“You told her?!”

“I-I had to tell **someone** there was vomit on the bleachers!”

“Why did you tell her it was me?!”

“She was interrogating me! I had no choice!” Emette growls and stomps off towards the office. All the boys watch before returning back to their lunch, Johnny with his head facing downwards.

“I don’t know why he’s complaining.” Tyrese says. “He gets to go home for the rest of the day.”

“I guess he just takes his grades seriously.” Ulysses assumes.

“My pa would give me hell if I came home early. Even if it was because I got sick.” Stephen comments.

“We’ve already established this, Stephen, your dad is the worst.” Tyrese says with a slight laugh.

“I don’t know. I think I know someone’s dad who has mine beat.” Stephen replies, glancing at Ulysses, who sighs.

“At least **my** dad lets me have friends.”

“Yeah, yer right about that, I guess.” As the three boys converse, they ignore Johnny, who was still thinking about Emette, and how bad he felt for making him go home early. Even if Emette told him it wasn’t his fault.

 

“Mr. Manning, I’m sorry, but school policy says that if you become sick you **must** stay home. Even if you’ve begun to feel better.” Ms. Peterson argues.

“It was just because I drank chocolate milk. As long as I don’t drink chocolate milk, I’m fine!” Emette responds.

“Why did you drink it, then?”

“It was an accident.” Emette tries not to sound as insulted as he feels by the question when he replies. The woman behind the desk shakes her head.

“I’m sorry, but the school policy requires you to go home if you,” she turns to a paper on the wall next to her desk, “have a ‘fever, upset stomach, nausea, dizziness, or any other kind of serious medical condition that may affect the student’s performance or the health of other students around them.’” She turns back to Emette, who was wearing a pout on his face. “Now, is there someone I can call to come pick you up?”

“I’ll drive myself home.” Emette says angrily, as he swings his backpack over his shoulders and exits the front office. He shoves open the double doors, cursing the entire way to his car. He starts up his car in a huff and zooms out of the parking lot, heading towards home. He tries his best not to feel anger towards Johnny, however, it was difficult. The entire way home all he can think about is how angry he is at everyone; mostly Ulysses. He never really cared for Ulysses since the first day they met, and this situation had only made it worse. There was nothing to do at home besides watch TV or help his mother with whatever she was doing. He knows he’ll miss Johnny, as well; even as miffed as he is at him right now. Deep down he still believes it wasn’t the boy’s fault. He sighs deeply as he enters his house. He unlocks his door and sees his mother on the couch, knitting. She jumps when she notices him.

“Oh. Mijo, you scared me to death! I didn’t who was walking into the house!” She claims.

“Sorry, mom.” Emette replies as he removes his jacket and hangs it on the coatrack.

“What are you doing home so early? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I accidentally drank some chocolate milk, and you can guess what happened after that.” The boy responds as he sits down on the loveseat. He glances at the television, which was already on and changed to the news station. “You’re watching the news?” Mrs. Manning nods.

“I was flipping through the channels and just happened to stop on the news channel while they were talking about finding a disembodied arm in the Cedartown landfill this morning.” Emette can feel himself beginning to sweat slightly, although his facial expression remains unchanged.

“Yeah, Johnny was telling me about that.” The boy replies as he keeps his eyes glued to the television, worrying about them finding the rest. “Did they find any other body parts?”

“No, not yet. They said the arm had been badly decayed, so the rest of the body had most likely been buried in junk or moved to a different part of the landfill entirely.” Emette nods.

“So it’s an old body part, then?”

“Yeah. They said something like six months.”

“Are there any suspects yet?” Emette asks, now facing his mother.

“No, but they suspect it was someone in Cedartown, considering the large crime population there is there.” Mrs. Manning replies. Emette chuckles.

“Heh. Yeah. Can’t imagine anyone from Willow Water getting involved a crime like that.”

“Hmm, I don’t know. That guy who killed that child molester a while ago…” The woman points out.

“Chyeah, but he was stupid enough to leave the body in the house. He’s gonna get caught one of these days.” The boy claims, although he doesn’t believe what he’s saying in the slightest.

“Maybe. It’s been quite a while, though, and the police have very few leads.”

“Come to think of it, a lot of people have been disappearing from and around Willow Water recently, huh? There sure are a lot of missing person reports nowadays. At least, that’s what dad told me.” Mrs. Manning hums in thought.

“Not sure. I haven’t heard about any of it on the news. But, if your father knows about it, it must be true.”

“Heh. I guess most of these people just aren’t important enough to make it onto the news. Most of them were criminals already, according to dad, so who cares anyway?”

“Mijo.” Mrs. Manning says in a surprised tone. “They were people, too.”

“They were sex offenders, mom. That Grey guy raped little kids, remember?”

“Oh, they were all sex offenders?”

“Most of them. Some of them had abused people, too.” Emette informs.

“Oh. In that case, your bias is justified. I was assuming they were just petty thefts.” Mrs. Manning says, as she returns to her knitting. Emette turns his attention back to the TV. He begins to feel relieved that the body part was at least old. However, he soon realizes that he would have to search for new places to dump the bodies now that Cedartown landfill would most likely be on the lookout for suspicious people. He begins to remember the body parts he and Johnny hadn’t dumped yet. They were decaying by the second, and he knows that if he doesn’t get them out soon, they’ll begin to rot, and that will not be pretty. Emette rises to his feet after a few moments and heads back for his jacket. His mother notices. “Where are you going, Emette?”

“To the library to study.” He informs. “I’ve got an extra credit project for history I could be working on rather than just sitting on my ass at home all day.”

“Alright, well, be careful.”

“I will. Also, I might bring Johnny over later on, if that’s okay with you.” Mrs. Manning nods.

“We always enjoy having Johnny over.” Emette chuckles as he makes his way out the door.

“Love you, mom.” He says, before walking out to his car. Once he straps in and starts the engine, he stops for a moment to look up at the overcast sky. “I hope it doesn’t rain again today.” He says as he pulls out of the driveway. The entire drive to the library, he is thinking about the possible ways he could dispose of bodies. Burying the bodies was out of the question. Burning them isn’t as easy as it sounds. And throwing them into a river would be too risky. When he arrives at the library, he asks the librarian if they had any books with information on their state. She nods and points him in the right direction. He searches for quite a while before he picks up the book he needs. He sits down at a table and begins flipping through the pages of the rather large book. He has a feeling that it will take him a long time to find the information he was looking for.

 

After an hour or two of writing stuff down and flipping through the book, he looks up at the clock and realizes how late it was getting. _“Johnny should be walking home from school by now.”_ He says to himself, before quickly closing the book and hastily putting it back. He says goodbye to the librarian as he races out to his car and starts it up. It would only take him a few minutes to get to Johnny’s path home. When he reaches it, he slows and watches for the boy, who hadn’t quite made it out of the school building yet. A few minutes pass until he sees the shape of the boy strolling towards his car. Johnny squints when he sees Emette’s car, trying to make sure it was truly who he thought it was. When he realizes he was right, he smiles widely and sprints in his direction. Emette chuckles with amusement at the boy’s eagerness. By the time Johnny reaches the car, he is huffing with exhaustion. Emette laughs. “Happy to see me?” He asks. Johnny catches his breath and nods.

“I thought you were still mad at me.” He says. Emette huffs a small laugh.

“Nah. Get in the car and I’ll take you to my place. We’ll call your mom and tell her where you’re at.” With that, Johnny opens the passenger door and hops in. Emette pulls back into the street and begins the drive to his house. The two are silent for a moment before Johnny speaks.

“So…about the arm…” He mentions.

“Right. So, the arm ended up being a few months old, so it wasn’t the arm we dumped last night.” Emette replies. Johnny breathes a sigh of relief. “But,” Emette begins and Johnny lifts his head up to look at him, “since they found the arm, that means we won’t be able to dump in that landfill anymore.” The blonde boy tenses once again. “However, I went to the library to do some research, and I managed to find a couple more landfills not too terribly far from Willow Water.” The black haired boy assures. Johnny once again relaxes slightly.

“Where are they?” He asks.

“There’s one in Wood Creek and one in Jonestown. Wood Creek is the closest, but Jonestown is the biggest. It should take us around twenty minutes to get to Wood Creek and thirty or forty to get to Jonestown. Jonestown’s landfill is **gigantic**! If we were to dump bodies there, no one would be the wiser.” Emette replies. Johnny begins thinking.

“I was also thinking that instead of just dumping the bodies exposed, we could put the parts into things like cans or boxes or something.” Emette perks his head up and smiles.

“That’s a great idea, Kid! You’re so smart.” He reaches over to ruffle his hair, and Johnny laughs with flushed cheeks. “Why didn’t my dumb ass think of that?”

“Ha ha, maybe you just like seeing nasty, bloody body parts.” Johnny replies.

“True that!” Emette jokes as they pull up to his house. The two exit the vehicle and enter the boy’s house. “Buenas tardes!” Emette shouts once he enters the house. His mother once again jumps at the sudden noise.

“Mijo, that’s the second time you’ve scared me today!” She scolds. Emette only laughs, however.

“Johnny’s here.” He informs as the blonde boy makes himself known.

“Hey, Mrs. Manning!” The woman smiles warmly and stands to shake his hand. Once more nearly sending him to the floor with how strong her handshake was.

“It’s so nice to see you again, Johnathon!” She chimes. Johnny chuckles, trying to recover from the forceful handshake.

“Ha ha, it’s nice to see you, too.” Emette walks over to the house phone that was sitting on a small coffee table.

“What’s your mom’s number, Kid?” He asks.

“Oh! Right.” Johnny lists off his home phone number and Emette types it in before holding the phone up to his ear and waiting.

“Hey, Mrs. Carmich- I mean, Jones. Johnny’s over at my house right now. I hope you don’t mind him being over here. I can always drive him back home if you’re not.” The boy says once Mrs. Jones picks up.

“Oh no, not at all! I’m fine with him staying over there for a few hours! Just have him back before nine.” She replies.

“Can do! Thank you.” With that, Emette hangs up the phone. “She says it’s fine.” The blonde boy nods. He walks up to the boy with a smile.

“So, uh…what do you want to do now?” He asks timidly. Emette hums in thought.

“Atari?” He suggests. Johnny seems to think for a moment before replying.

“Uh, sure!” Emette cocks an eyebrow.

“Was there something else you had in mind?” Johnny rubs the back of his neck.

“Well…I kinda wanted to talk to you about something.” Emette smiles.

“Sure! Let’s head down to my room and then you can ask.” Emette begins leading the way to the stairs, and the boys descend rather quickly. Perhaps eager to spend some alone time together. When they enter Emette’s room, Johnny sighs deeply. The other boy quirks a brow. “What’s wrong, Kid?” The blonde boy takes a seat on the bed before replying.

“I’ve had a lot of things on my mind recently…mainly stuff about the Keith House and your little…hobby, I guess. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about…” Emette sits down next to him and listens intently as he speaks. “One other thing that’s been on my mind is the fact that I might be gay. Because, I don’t really desire a relationship with a woman…but I do get along with men my age a lot better…”

“Well…that doesn’t necessarily make you gay, Kid. I was kinda joking about you possibly being gay when I was showing you the magazines. I didn’t mean for it to bother you so much.” Emette admits. Johnny shakes his head.

“No, it’s fine. I sorta feel like I needed to find out eventually. I mean, I’m eighteen and I still haven’t dated, or, had my first kiss.”

“Really? You’ve never kissed anyone?” Johnny shakes his head once more. This time in a more sheepish manner.

“Y-yeah I know…pretty lame, huh?” He laughs. Emette chuckles quietly as well. He feels like offering him a kiss, but decides that it would only cause the boy further stress if he were to do so.

“Don’t worry, Kid. You’ll find someone to share a first kiss with one day.” Johnny nods, almost seeming disappointed. “Do you think you have a crush on anyone yet?” The dark skinned boy asks. Johnny hums in thought.

“Uhhh…” The thought that he might possibly have a crush on Emette pops into his head and he blushes. “M-maybe…I-I don’t know…” Emette notices him getting bothered and slyly grins. Johnny looks at him. “W-what’s that look for?”

“Nothing. I just think you’re cute when you blush.” The boy admits. Johnny’s blush deepens, and he once again starts to think about potentially being attracted to him.

“E-Emette!” He whines.

“What? Did I fluster you?” Emette teases. Johnny turns away.

“Why do you insist on teasing me all the time?” Emette laughs and pulls the boy into a hug.

“I’m sorry, Kid. You’re just so easy to pick on.” The blonde boy relaxes in his embrace and leans back against him, warranting a soft chuckle from the other.

“Stop bullying me, ya big goof.” He jests. The black haired boy once again laughs and snuggles close to him. Johnny’s heart beats faster at this action and his body becomes warmer. “U-uh…you wanna go play Atari now?” He suggests, feeling strangely uncomfortable in this situation. Emette lets him go.

“Oh. Yeah! Let’s go.” The two finally stand up and go into the downstairs living area to set up the game system.

 

When the two tire of playing Frogger, they retire to Emette’s bedroom once more. “So, what’s the plan of action tonight? Are we going to Jonestown’s landfill?” Johnny asks in a quiet voice.

“I don’t know. It’s really short notice, and I want to take advantage of your idea, but I don’t think we have any empty boxes around.” Emette replies in an equally quiet voice.

“We could use a black trash bag.” Johnny suggests. Emette slaps a palm to his forehead.

“Why didn’t **I** think of that?” The blonde boy laughs.

“It’s like I said, you just like blood and guts!” Emette reaches over and ruffles his hair.

“Well…I don’t want those organs decaying in the Keith House and attracting a whole bunch of bugs. Or worse.” Johnny cocks an eyebrow.

“Worse?”

“If someone were to sneak into the Keith House and the body parts had significantly decayed, they might smell it. Bodies start to decay the minute they die, so it won’t take too long for them to start smelling.” Johnny swallows a lump in his throat.

“W-well…they could just think it was some type of animal that died there, too.”

“That is true, but I still don’t want to risk it.” Emette claims. Johnny rubs the back of his neck.

“Yeah, heh. Good idea.”

“So, I’ll try to be as inconspicuous as possible and sneak a few trash bags from upstairs. You head on out to the car and I’ll meet you out there, capisce?” Johnny nods.

“Capisce!” Emette pats his shoulder, then heads upstairs while Johnny heads out the downstairs door towards Emette’s car. He hops in quickly and waits for the other boy. His heart was still racing. He was still dreading going back to the Keith House. Although, he knew telling Emette would be pointless. Once the other boy finally exits the house, he swiftly makes his way over to the car and slides in. He was clearly out of breath and breathing somewhat heavily. He puts the key in the ignition and starts the car. He speeds out of the neighborhood in silence. Johnny was unsure if he should vent to Emette or not.

“You seem to be a lot more willing to come along with me now, Kid.” Emette says. Johnny refuses to speak for a moment before he sullenly replies.

“I guess I’ve just accepted that there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s not like I enjoy going with you. I hate going to the Keith House. But I don’t have a choice.” Emette listens closely to the boy’s words. Feeling somewhat saddened by the answer. “I really like you, Emette. You’re probably my favorite person ever right now. But a lot of the things you put me through make me really anxious. I just don’t know exactly how to cope with them. I know I’ve been acting like it doesn’t affect me, but it really does. I think these nightmares I’ve been having at night are a product of the kind of stuff I go through with you.” Emette’s expression turns sullen, and he nods.

“I’m sorry, Kid. I’ll help you cope in any way that I can. I really am sorry for having to put you through all of this. But I promise it’ll get easier.”

“But that’s what I’m afraid of!” Johnny blurts. “I don’t want to be numbed to horrible stuff like this! I don’t wanna turn out like you!” Emette displays a shocked expression at the boy’s words for a moment. However, it soon returns to its saddened state. The two boys are quiet for a while before Johnny speaks once more. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

“No, I know, Kid. It’s okay. I don’t want you to turn out like me, either.” Emette replies softly. “But I doubt you will. When I say it gets easier, I mean that you won’t feel anxious or scared anymore. I never said you wouldn’t still be disgusted by everything. You’re not jaded like I am, Kid. You’ve got a good heart, and witnessing a murder or five won’t change that. I can only do this so easily because I was fucked up from the beginning.” Johnny gives him a worried look.

“What do you mean? I don’t think you’re fucked up.” He says. Emette sighs.

“Well…I had something happen to me in the early years of my life that kind of, ‘drained’ me for lack of a better word. It ruined me, and even at that young age, I was able to hold onto all that anger and disgust well into my early teen years, and up to now. I guess that experience caused me to grow up a little faster than everyone else my age. I wasn’t a little kid anymore after that. Kids don’t like to spend all their time in reality. They like to imagine things and create their own little worlds. But that experience brought me down into reality. Permanently. I was never the same after that. And for that reason, I feel so much hatred for evil people that ruin other people’s lives for their own selfish, revolting gain...” Emette pauses to collect himself. “Traumatic experiences can either turn people soft or bitter. I turned bitter, unfortunately. I wish I had turned soft. If I had, I wouldn’t be so obsessed with murdering terrible people…” He pauses again to gather his thoughts. “And you would have never been put through all of this. We could’ve had a normal friendship.” Emette stops speaking after that, and stares ahead in a thoughtful stupor as he drives. Johnny could feel the other boy’s words tugging at his heart. Emette was so vague with his wording, but he knew that must’ve been for a reason.

“I don’t know what happened to you Emette,” Johnny begins softly, “but I’m sorry you had to go through it. I don’t think you’re fucked up. Even if you do murder people. I know you have a good heart, too. If you didn’t you wouldn’t be concerned about me, and you wouldn’t be killing people who were doing wrong.” Another silence stirs while Johnny’s words settle in. The blonde boy looks out the window, assuming his words had had a negative effect on the other. However, he soon feels a hand on the top of his head. When he looks over to the only culprit, he sees him smiling warmly.

“Thanks, Kid.” Emette says, beginning to ruffle the boy’s hair. Johnny grins and begins chuckling quietly at the action.

 

The boys soon come upon the Keith House and carefully make their way inside. They descend the stairs and make their way into the Killing Room, where the organs were still sitting in their respective piles. Emette puts on his leather clothes and begins placing the guts in the trash bags. “They already smell.” Johnny comments. Emette nods.

“Yep. They were left here for quite a while.” He says. Once all the organs were in the bags, Emette removes his leather clothes, and puts his regular clothes back on. He then hands a bag to Johnny, and the two make their way up the stairs. Suddenly, Emette’s arm shoots out, stopping Johnny in his tracks.

“What’s wrong-…”

“Shhh!” Emette shushes the boy before he can finish speaking. Johnny quiets himself and listens. They can hear footsteps and voices coming from upstairs. Johnny can feel a cold sweat begin to collect on his skin. Emette cracks the hatch open ever so slightly to take a peak. “Damn junior high kids…” He whispers.

“What are they saying?” Johnny mutters.

“They’re talking about spending the night here because someone dared them to.” Emette replies. The two pause for a moment before Emette hands Johnny the other trash bag. “Stay here. I have a plan.” He says. Johnny’s heartbeat quickens at this statement.

“What are you going to do?”

“Don’t worry about it, just stay put.”

“Let’s check out the upstairs!” Emette hears one of the boys say.

“Yeah, alright!” Exclaims another one. He then waits until he hears both of them ascend the stairs and can no longer see their flashlights. He then exits the hatch and waits. Johnny’s chest was feeling tight and his stomach flips with each passing second. Nausea and anxiety were beginning to grip him, but he knows he has to stay quiet. The only thing keeping him from having a panic attack was the reassurance that Emette had a plan of some sort.

“What are you kids doing?” Johnny soon hears Emette say. One of the boys shines their flashlight in Emette’s direction. They both seem unfazed by his presence.

“What’s it to ya?” The smaller of the two asks. His voice was bordering prepubescent.

“I think it’s a little past your bedtimes, don’t you?” Emette replies in the most adult voice he can muster. The taller boy looks to the other one, then back to Emette.

“Get the fuck outta here. We’re just spending the night.” He says, trying to sound intimidating.

“Oh are you, now? Well, pardon me for intruding.” Emette takes a few steps forward, and the boys back off.

“L-look man. What do you want?”

“Well, I would very much appreciate it if you left.” Emette says politely.

“W-well that’s not gonna happen until morning. So why don’t **you** leave since we were here first?”

“Oh, you were here first, were you?” The older boy takes a few more steps toward them. They stand their ground this time, but begin shaking once they see how tall and well-built Emette was compared to them. “Let me rephrase what I said earlier: Either get the fuck outta here, or I’ll drag you out myself.” The boys’ eyes widen.

“Y-you wouldn’t hurt us! We’re just kids!” The taller one says.

“Oh no, I wouldn’t **dare** hurt a couple of defenseless children!” Emette replies. The two kids seem to ease up a bit. “But I can’t say the same for Howie.” The boys once again tense up.

“Wh-who’s Howie?” The smaller kid asks.

“He’s the homeless man who lives here.” The older boy lies. The two kids were now visibly shaking, but the tallest one still seems skeptical.

“You’re just pullin’ our legs! No one named Howie lives here!” He growls.

“No! He’s real! I’ve seen him! He’s tried to kill me before! He was doped up and had a **knife** in his hand! He tried to stab me; yelling at me to leave or else he’d cut me up and throw me in a landfill!” Emette claims as he pantomimes with exaggerated movements. The two boys gasp and back away.

“W-why are you here, then?” The smaller one asks.

“I came here to take something Howie stole from me. But we all need to hurry before he comes back!” The black haired boy replies. The kids still stay put. Meanwhile, Johnny is listening to the whole thing down on the staircase. Once he hears Emette’s story, he gets an idea.

“Y-you’re lying!” The tallest says. Just then, Johnny begins banging on the floor above him as hard as he can, making a loud noise that makes the boys jump.

“Holy shit! That’s Howie! Run! RUN!!” Emette shouts, rushing the terrified boys out the front door. He watches as they sprint out of the woods as fast as they can. Emette watches them go, then begins wheezing with laughter as Johnny drags the trash bags out of the hatch with difficulty. After the black haired boy is done laughing, he wipes the tears from his eyes and turns in Johnny’s direction. “That was fucking **great** , Kid!” He laughs, ruffling the boy’s blonde hair. “You’re so fucking smart!” Johnny laughs as well.

“Ha ha, thanks, man.” Once Emette finishes messing up his hair, he takes a bag from one of his hands. Johnny uses that free hand to fix his hair before following Emette out the back door of the house. The two boys shove the bags in the compartment in the trunk and shut the trunk forcefully. They then climb into the car and slowly drive out of the woods.

 

The two begin on the road to the Jonestown landfill, cracking up at the situation that had just unfolded. In that moment, Johnny was feeling rather relaxed, mainly due to the relief from evading being caught. “I never expected a bunch of junior high kids to be wandering around in an abandoned house. I mean, don’t they have parents?” Johnny says. Emette shrugs.

“Maybe their parents are just shitty at their jobs, who knows?” Johnny laughs.

“Heh. Yeah. **Really** shitty.” The two share a laugh before Emette suddenly makes a sharp turn, and Johnny grips his door. He looks to the taller boy in confusion.

“This is the entrance to Jonestown’s landfill, Kid.” Emette claims. Johnny quirks a brow.

“It’s so dark. Do you think we should’ve risked coming out here in the daytime?” Emette shakes his head.

“Nah. Too risky.” Johnny nods. The two boys get out of the car and each grab a trash bag from the trunk. “I’ll lead the way, Kid.” The taller boy claims.

“Okay.” Johnny agrees, as he follows closely without protest. He takes out his keychain flashlight and begins searching through the piles of rubbish. He spots old boxes, many trash bags, pieces of metal, tires, rotten food, broken shelves and chairs, and many other worthless things. Although, he does begin to ponder if some of these things might possibly be reusable. After all, a broken chair can be fixed. Many of these things didn’t seem to be broken beyond repair. “Why do people throw out things that can be fixed?” Johnny wonders out loud.

“Fixing broken things can take a lot of work. Sometimes people don’t want to invest time and money into fixing things, I guess.” Emette replies.

“Then why don’t they just give these things to people who will?”

“There aren’t a lot of people who will take broken things, Kid.”

“I kind of feel bad. It’s such a waste that people throw out stuff that could be given a second chance with a little work.” Johnny says.

“Well…there’s always someone out there who’s willing to repair something. You just have to find them.” Emette responds. Before Johnny can say anything, a foul odor hits his nose.

“Blegh!” He complains.

“Yeah, I know. Smells pretty terrible, huh?” The black haired boy retorts. Johnny covers his nose and mouth.

“Yeah! How come I didn’t smell this a minute ago?” Emette laughs.

“I guess we weren’t close enough to the really bad stuff yet.” Johnny begins to wonder how Emette could stand being around bad smells all the time.

“This place is huge!” The blonde boy exclaims.

“Yep! The biggest landfill I could find!” The taller boy remarks.

“How was anyone able to find the arm in a mess like this at the other landfill?” Johnny asks. Emette shrugs.

“I don’t know. Maybe someone else found it while they were dumping trash?”

“Yeah…maybe.” Johnny says quietly. A sudden force hitting him stops him in his tracks. “Ah!” He looks in front of him to see Emette glancing around. He must’ve bumped into him.

“This looks like a good spot!” Emette remarks, as he ties the garbage bag tightly. “Watch out.” Johnny steps back a little bit and watches Emette swing the bag up and throw it on top of a pile of garbage. “Alright, your turn, Kid.” Johnny grips the bag tightly, then flings it up. He screeches as guts begin to pour out onto him. Emette frantically shushes him. The blonde boy jumps up and immediately begins gagging. He turns around to vomit while Emette sighs and feels around the pile for a loose bag. He finally finds one and begins to scoop the stray organs back into the trash bag. He then ties it, and flings it up on top of the pile. “That’s why you gotta tie the bag, Kid.” Emette laughs. Johnny finally finishes puking and the taller boy pats his back. The two then begin their trek back to the car.

 

Once in the car, Johnny looks at himself in the mirror to make sure there wasn’t any blood or vomit on his face. When he sees none, he looks down to his clothes. “Oh no!” He exclaims in shock. Emette glances over to him. “I got blood on my jacket!”

“It’s only a little bit. Don’t worry.” Emette assures.

“I thought you washed the organs!”

“Yeah, but I can’t wash **all** the blood out of them.”

“What am I gonna do? My mom with freak if she sees blood on my jacket!” Johnny begins to panic. The taller boy places a hand on his shoulder after he starts the car.

“Take your jacket off and I’ll wash it at my house.” He says.

“But what if my mom asks me where it is?”

“Then just tell her you left it at my house on accident.” Johnny thinks it over for a minute.

“It’s gonna be cold walking to school in the morning…”

“Or, we could switch jackets for now! They look pretty similar, you can just tell your mom that you got yours mixed up with mine.” Emette suggests. Johnny nods.

“Alright. I guess that’ll work. The blood **will** come out, though, right?”

“Yep! Don’t worry about anything, Kid. I’m always one step ahead!” The black haired boy gives him a grin. Johnny laughs.

“Bleh…that was gross, though. I hope that never happens again…” The blonde boy says.

“I guess you’ll be sure to tie the bag from now on, huh?” Emette replies.

“Cheeuh. I hate gore and I **definitely** don’t want it all over me…”

“Well, luckily for you, you won’t have to worry about it for a while until I can find another victim.” Emette pats the boy’s back.

“That’s a relief. This experience was stressful enough. Hopefully I won’t have to go through many more before you quit.” Johnny claims. Emette simply chuckles for a brief moment before going silent. “When **will** you quit, by the way? Do you have some kind of body count you’re trying to reach, or do you have a specific quitting date, or something?” The blonde one asks.

“I have a specific person I’m trying to kill. I’m just waiting for my chance to find him.” The black haired boy replies. Johnny quirks a brow.

“Who is he?” Emette stares straight ahead in silence for a while before replying.

“Someone I hope you’ll never meet.”

“…I’m guessing he’s part of the reason why you kill bad people.” Johnny supposes.

“He’s the biggest reason.” The other boy confirms.

“Oh…sounds like a bad guy.”

“You have no idea.” After that, the two spend the remainder of their time in the car in silence before they reach Johnny’s house. “Let’s hurry up and switch jackets. It’s almost past your curfew.” Johnny agrees and they quickly swap jackets. Johnny then opens his door and gets out.

“Oh wait!” He suddenly remembers something. “Uh, I was wondering if I could maybe spend the weekend at your house? I-if that’s okay with you.” Emette chuckles.

“Sure thing, Kid. I’ll tell my folks to be expecting you this weekend.”

“Awesome!” Johnny cheers, before saying goodbye and heading into his house. As expected, everyone had already gone to bed by the time he had gotten home. With a long, exhausted sigh, he makes his way up to his room and flops down on his bed. He takes his shoes and jeans off, then removes Emette’s jacket. He stares at it for a moment before bringing it up to his face and smelling it. Just as he knew it would, it smelled exactly like Emette. He continues to sniff it, suddenly feeling his heart begin to beat faster the more he inhaled the scent. Before long, he decides to lay down on the bed with it clutched tightly to his chest. He suddenly feels really strange; aroused, almost. He can feel his cheeks turning red as the scent continues to waft into his lungs. He has no idea why he feels this way in this situation, but decides he’s too engrossed in the feeling to care. He doesn’t get too far, as he lets the comforting scent lull him to sleep. By then, he had entirely forgotten about possibly having nightmares tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't you love it when your future boyfriend sniffs your clothes?  
> Next he'll be sniffing Emette's underwear, once they start dating. (I'm jk...maybe).


End file.
